A General What If - Digimon Adventure
by DT-3015
Summary: What would happen if everything had gone differently since the very beginning? Hikari didn't miss the summer camp that fateful year. She was never the missing "Eighth Chosen Child", and she's always known her partner from start to finish. A recount of Digimon Adventure with a twist.
1. And thus everything begins

**A/N: Well, I guess you can be shocked. Kinda, sorta, no not really. This is an idea that's been on my mind since I watched Digimon all those years ago as a young'un, and I guess I can finally write out how Digimon could have gone.**

**Quick Notes:**

**Hikari, once again, is not the missing child. All eight of the children are at the summer camp, so there's not really any "Missing Eighth Chosen Child", and all of that will be explained in due time. This is technically a first in a series I'm actually planning on writing out before the end of my lifetime... or before I end up getting swamped with real life problems.**

**Due to Hikari actually being there, Taichi and Yamato aren't going to have much of a rivalry since I believed that most of the tension came from the fact that Yamato was jealous of Taichi and how Takeru seemed to admire the goggle headed leader. Due to this, the two older brothers are going to be rather out of character in a way, but I think the change is minimal to the point that it isn't much visible.**

**As you can tell, I'm inclined to use the Japanese names and ages since I technically did see the Japanese version first, despite growing up in the States. That, and I like it better since there's all those puns and intentional links such as Hikari and her crest being that of Light.**

**Few more important things before I start the story. Everything shall be in third person present tense, since it's a style I'm currently trying to master. This shall also be a Takeru-centric piece despite the heavy emphasis of Hikari being there, mainly because he is my favorite Chosen Child. That, and Patamon is amazing. Also, I'm going to be adding some interesting twists here and there to make the story flow the way I wanted the entire series to go. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon nor anything that has to do with the entire franchise. This work is purely fanfiction and shall not make any profit using the Digimon name nor its franchise.**

* * *

Everything had started that summer.

Strange things started to happen all over the globe. The fields of Southeast Asia dried up due to a mysterious drought. Heavy rain fall engulfed the Middle East. The temperatures within the United States fluctuated to the extremities. All of these had gone unnoticed to a many others, mostly kids who did not really care of the future and only thought of what was happening in their own little world.

However, for a group of kids at a summer camp, these telltale signs only marked the beginning of an adventure that would change their lives.

Forever.

* * *

"Ne, Hikari, what's that?" A young, boyish voice asks, slight confusion mixes with odd fascination.

"What's what Takeru?" A young, girly voice, Hikari, replies with a question, looking up from the ground.

The two children, Takaishi Takeru and Yagami Hikari, are currently playing around in a field close to where the other children are setting up the tents for their Summer Camp. They are both in the second grade, with Takeru going to Kawada Elementary and with Hikari going to Odaiba Elementary.

"That!" Takeru shouts, pointing at a falling white object. He reaches up to grab it, only to have it disappear in his hand. His hand is left slightly wet. "Wait…"

"Snow!" Hikari jumps from her spot, eyes shining in wonder. Times like these, she forgets that she's still recovering from her bout of pneumonia. The young child starts to cough.

"Hikari, are you okay?" Takeru rushes to her as fast as his eight year old legs can take him. Luckily, he and Hikari are not that far apart. He grabs her shoulder and holds her steady, telling her to breathe slowly and deeply.

Her coughs fade away.

"Thank you," she says with a smile, earning one in return from the blond haired child. She notes that the snow is starting to fall much more frequently now, and the winds are getting stronger by the minute. "We should g o to where everyone else is at." She earns a nod in agreement, noting that she was not the only one who was getting worried and confused by the second.

Getting up, the two rush out of the field and through the bushes, carefully at that due to Hikari's constitution. Takeru is the one who spots familiar faces first.

"Bro!" Takeru shouts, catching the attention of another blond haired, blue eyed child. His brother, Ishida Yamato, is with two others. Yagami Taichi, Hikari's older brother, and Takenouchi Sora. All three of them were fifth grade students at Odaiba elementary.

"Takeru!"/"Hikari!" Two voices overlap in concern. Both Yamato and Taichi shout in unison upon seeing their siblings, Sora turning around to see the two younger siblings reach the three of them. As soon as they were close enough, both Yamato and Taichi bring their little siblings into their arms.

More snow falls harder, faster, soon creating small patches of white everywhere.

"Taichi!" Another voice calls and both Takeru and Taichi turn to the source. A small red haired child clutching a laptop in his arms runs towards them. A young girl wearing an absurdly large pink cowgirl hat follows behind him.

"Koushiro! Mimi!" Taichi greets them as Hikari looks into the sky. Izumi Koushiro and Tachikawa Mimi, both fourth grade students at Odaiba Elementary, just like the others—sans Takeru. "Where's Jyou?" Taichi asks, repositioning the goggles that lay on his forhead, keeping his gravity defying hair in check.

"I thought he'd be here with you," Koushiro pants, trying to regain his breath after the running.

The snow fall becomes harsher now, along with the blistering winds. Within a minute, the strong winds and the snow combine into a howling blizzard.

"We need to find shelter!" Taichi shouts over the wind as he puts on his goggles. He grabs Hikari's hand, making sure that he does not lose her.

In turn, Hikari grasps Takeru's hand, who then grasps onto Yamato's, who then takes hold of Sora's, and with Sora Mimi's, and with Mimi Koushiro's. And with that, they made a human chain, preventing anything bad from happening to them—like getting separated for example.

They continue to trudge in snow until a faint shout catches Takeru's attention. He trains his young ears to try and catch what the shout is saying.

"..o'er…. here… uys!" He hears, the voice sounding familiar.

"Everyone! Over here!" He hears again, and this time much more clearly. He turns his head left and right, searching for the source, spotting a shrine house in the process. It seems the voice is coming from there. He knows who the voice is now. The voice belongs to their friend, Kido Jyou, sixth grade student at Odaiba Elementary.

"Taichi!" Takeru shouts over the gale, barely catching the older boy's attention. "I hear Jyou's voice coming from over at the shrine house to the right!"

With that, Taichi himself looks around, finding the shrine house that the younger blond was talking about. Being the leader in the front, he pulls them along to the safety of the shrine house. There, he finds their friend Jyou, hurrying them into the small building before the blizzard becomes worse.

"Get inside! Hurry!" Jyou persists, helping them all get inside and closing the sliding door the minute Koushiro enters. "I already have pillows and blankets laid out for all of you."

And true to his word, there are blankets and pillows put in a circle, one for each of them, much to the groups' chagrin. Takeru smiles lightly, grateful.

No words are said as they all clamber their way into the comfort of a blanket, sitting on one pillow each, and huddle as close as possible with each other. Takeru and Hikari are the lucky ones, being the smallest and youngest. Yamato and Taichi sits them on their respective laps, providing them extra warmth and putting them in the middle of the group huddle.

They all stay like this, silent and shivering, as they wait the blizzard out.

* * *

It is two hours until the group hears the howl of the blizzard subsiding until it is no more. Cautious, Taichi hands his sister to the closest person, Yamato. The older blond opens up his blanket, scooting Takeru over to make space for the younger Yagami child. With only eye contact, a silent promise between older brothers is made as Taichi stands to open the door.

"Wow," he says as if in a trance, catching the attention of everyone. Takeru and Hikari are the first to react, jumping out of Yamato's lap, forcing the Ishida child to follow them.

"Snow!" Takeru shouts jovially, making his way under Taichi's outstretched arm. Hikari follows him with a gleeful cheer.

"Takeru! Hikari! Be careful!" Yamato shouts in clear worry, speaking what is both in his and Taichi's mind as their younger siblings rush out of the shrine house.

He rushes out, along with Taichi, planning on keeping an watchful eye on them.

"It's freezing," Takeru hears in the background, noting that it was Sora who is talking. He imagines that she's clutching her bare arms, rubbing them fiercely with her glove covered hands. "You wouldn't even be able to tell that it's summer," she continues and Takeru can hear the soft crunch of snow as she walks out of the shrine house.

"We should probably find an adult first! We don-." The familiar voice of the ever worried Jyou makes it to everyone's ears.

"Wow, snow! It's so pretty!" Mimi interrupts him with a shout, rushing outside. Knowing that his pleas are falling on deaf ears, Jyou sighs and joins them in the snow.

Takeru makes a headcount silently based off the sound of who commented and left the building. He notices that everyone but Koushiro has gone outside.

"No!" Takeru hears the familiar voice of Koushiro shout in frantic despair. Curious, Takeru looks up from the snowman that he is building with Hikari and their brothers, finding the red haired child staring desperately at both his laptop and his cell phone. Shaking his head, Takeru continues building his snowman.

"Wow," Taichi says once again, earning everyone but Koushiro's attention. Takeru looks up once more, this time following Taichi's line of sight. What he sees is commonly known as an aurora, shining colorfully like a rainbow throughout the dark snowy sky. "Koushiro, get out here! You gotta see this!" A few mumbles are heard, and Takeru takes note of the sound of crunching snow once again.

"It's my first time seeing this!" Takeru exclaims as everyone else makes their own claims regarding the aurora.

"Wait, everyone," Koushiro's voice cuts through their musings, stopping them all. "What's an aurora doing in Japan of all places? That just doesn't add up," he concludes, causing Sora to agree with him.

Takeru becomes confused now, looking at everyone and finding that they are all just as confused as he is. A soft gasp catches his attention.

"Big brother! Look!" Hikari shouts, pointing into the sky, past the aurora. Takeru, and everyone else for that matter, follows her line of sight, wanting to find out what she saw.

Takeru gasps slightly as well, finding himself inching his way closer to his brother. Yamato grabs Takeru, hugging him to his side as the two look wearily at the green vortex that Hikari pointed out. The Takaishi child sees Taichi make his way in front of Hikari, slowly making her step backwards along with him until the younger Yagami is close enough for Yamato to reach. Taking his cue, Yamato brings Hikari into his other side.

Everyone is entranced, looking at the green vortex with feelings of fascination and fear and all forms of the two. That is, until, eight bright lights begin to bud at the center of the vortex. These lights soon grow in size, moving towards the outer arms of the spiral, and shooting out towards the children like falling stars.

It all happens too fast, and the only natural reaction for them all is to brace for the incoming danger. Takeru vaguely hears Mimi let out a terrified shriek as the lights come closer, faster than before. One of the lights reaches them before the other seven, landing right beside Sora. This causes everyone to jump down, clutching their heads in fear.

Taichi turns automatically, encircling both Hikari and Takeru in his arms, forming a circle of protection with Yamato. Automatically, the two older brothers drop to the floor, dragging their younger siblings with them. Both Yamato and Taichi cover Takeru and Hikari in a human dome.

The objects continue to fall, lasting for another three minutes, sending snow flying into the surrounding area, obscuring everyone's vision. Takeru counts each impact silently, wishing the eighth one would happen so that they can all get up. His legs are beginning to cramp up.

"What was that?" Mimi asks as soon as the eighth light crashes into the snow covered earth, her voice interlaced with fear.

"I don't know," Koushiro replies as he crawls towards one of the holes. "It could have been a meteorite," he tries to logically conclude.

"Is everyone all right?" Sora shouts in worry, taking a look around as she stands.

"Yeah," Yamato responds, getting up, pulling Takeru and Hikari up. Being part of the human dome, Taichi stands as well. "Somehow."

"What in the world…?" Koushiro's voice piques Takeru's curiosity, finding the red haired child's face to be full of confusion. Something starts to float out of the small crater created by one of the lights. "What is thist?" He asks once more, grabbing the object as it floats in midair.

Seven more objects float out of their holes, which were coincidentally near the other seven children. Takeru is the first to snatch his, starting a ripple effect of everyone else catching their own.

"Is it a game?" Takeru whispers and only his brother and the two Yagamis hear him. "Looks like one of the Virtual Pet ones. Hikari nods in agreement, inspecting the device.

"It's neither a pager nor a cell phone," Koushiro remarks loudly, causing Takeru and Hikari to chuckle to themselves.

"Of course not, it's a game device," Takeru quips, causing the other three to smile. The smiles, however, did not last long.

The ground starts to rumble, breaking everyone from their musings. Again, Yamato and Taichi cling onto their siblings while everyone else tries to stabilize their balance. A light washes over them all, blinding them and forcing them all to close their eyes as they feel their bodies lift from the ground. Yamato and Taichi hold onto their sibling much more fiercely now. Unbeknownst to them, Takeru and Hikari both manage to grab a hold of each other in the chaos. Everyone but the four begin to scream for their dear lives.

"Don't let go!" Both Yamato and Taichi scream at their respective siblings; both earning a tighter clutch on their shirts in return. The pulling force begins to become stronger and stronger until they all feel themselves flying at fast speeds. Due to their positioning, the older brothers' grips on their younger siblings begin to falter. Taichi was the first to let go.

"Big brother!" Hikari screamed as she feels her brother be torn apart from her. She feels another arm clutch onto her. The hand holding her own tightens painfully, her returning the favor in fear. Takeru hears her brother scream her name until he can be heard no longer. "No!"

"Hikari!" Yamato and Takeru shout, wanting to calm her. "It's okay, your brother will be fine!" They both try to assure her, even if they, too, are scared of what may have happened.

Yamato feels his tight grip loosening, causing him to panic. Knowing the promise only the older brother's knew about, Yamato pushes both Takeru and Hikari together.

"Takeru," the Ishida child starts, earning the Takaishi's attention, "don't let go of her." He whispers into his brother's ear sadly. Takeru's mind goes into overload, wanting to figure out what his big brother was talking about, that is, until he notices it.

His big brother's grip isn't as tight as it was before.

"No! Don't let go of us!" Takeru shouts, pulling Hikari into him as he tries to strengthen his grip on Yamato's shirt.

"Don't worry," Yamato's calming voice reaches him, and he feels his brother unlatching his hand from his shirt. "I'll meet you on the other side," he continues and Takeru imagines his brother smiling. "Just promise me that you won't let go of Hikari."

"I won't let go. I promise!" Takeru shouts back, his voice cracking in sobs. He feels Yamato let go, screaming his name just like Taichi before the voice disappeared.

"Please, don't leave me too," Hikari whispers into the sobbing Takeru's jacket.

The last thing the Takaishi child feels are his arms circling around Hikari into a fierce hug before everything goes black.

* * *

"Takeru!" A voice permeates the darkness. They sound small and boyish. "Takeru! C'mon, wake up!" Something is jumping on his stomach, he can feel it.

"Ngh…" Takeru grunts, opening his eyes slowly. He blinks thrice, waking to see a small, white pig-like creature on his chest. "What…?" He mutters, trying to grasp the situation as best as his eight year old mind can possibly handle.

"Good morning sleepy head," another voice joins in, this time familiar.

"Hikari?" Takeru groggily makes out, looking left and right until he finally sees the girl. He notes that a cream colored puppy with a ring around the neck is next to her.

"The one and only! C'mon, get up already! Tokomon's been waiting for the past ten minutes!"

"Tokomon?" Takeru asks once more, bringing his eyes to the creature on his chest. He smiles, hugging the creature. The creature nods and smiles, earning a smile from Takeru. "Cool!"

"Wow," the puppy speaks in amazement. "Your reaction was on point."

Hikari giggles in response. "Of course Plotmon, I've known Takeru for two years now! We're best friends!" She smiles at him, and he smiles back.

A shout breaks the four of them out of their reveries, causing them to look around. Takeru's face scrunches in thought, the voice shouting sounding familiar. Wanting to find out who the voice belongs to, Takeru stands up and dusts his shorts, Tokomon hopping off his chest to stand next to him.

"Want to check it out?" He asks them, earning nods. "Let's go!" He shouts as he dashes towards the source.

Their little trek does not last long, five minutes at most. The moment Takeru makes it to the area where the shout came from, he bursts into laughter.

"Takeru?" The cool, familiar voice wonders in surprise.

"Bro!" Takeru shouts in glee, rushing out towards Yamato. Hikari, Plotmon and Tokomon follow behind him. "Was that you screaming earlier?" He asks in feigned innocence, knowing full well that the scream belongs to his brother. In response to the question, Yamato just shakes his head, his face flushing slightly.

"Hello to you too!" Another voice speaks, this time, coming from the creature with a blade for a horn nestled at his brother's side. "I'm Tsunomon! I'm Yamato's digimon partner!"

"Digimon?" Takeru questions, earning nods from Hikari, Tokomon, and Plotmon.

"That's what we are!" Tokomon exclaimed, the smile never leaving his face. The white pig's eyes glaze over, his attention far off. "What's that?" He asks suddenly, hearing something that the others, besides Plotmon, did not detect. He starts on his own, bouncing away from Takeru and into a different brush.

Worried, Takeru follows after him, Hikari and Yamato right behind him along with their digimon. They continue to run a short distance yet again, stumbling upon six other beings within the forest they woke up in. They are Taichi, Sora, Koushiro and three other small digimon.

"Hikari!" Taichi shouts as soon as he sees his little sister appear from the brush. Hearing him, Takeru sees Hikari rush past him, tackling the side of her older brother. Plotmon pads her way to her partner, looking around at the other digimon.

"You did well," Yamato says, staring at the Yagami siblings. He puts a hand on Takeru's shoulder, giving his younger sibling a smile of pride. "You did what was asked and followed it until the end."

At that, Takeru looks at his older brother, smiling back. A shout, however, ruins the heartfelt moment, causing everyone to jump and look towards the opposite end of the forest where the scream originated.

Soon, Kido Jyou makes his appearance, stumbling and tripping over his feet.

"Get it away! Get it away!" He shouts in fear, tripping and falling, with as much finesse a falling child can have, right in front of the gathered group of children. Jyou picks himself up right away, jumping behind Taichi's back, cowering.

Confused, everyone looks to where the oldest child appeared, only to see a gray, floating, dragon-like digimon flying right at them. This prompts Jyou to continue screaming in fear, only to pause when he realizes that the others are not screaming at all. Takeru watches in amusement as Jyou looks around, noticing the other digimon in his presence and almost fainting in shock. After a while, Jyou starts to calm down, breathing slowly to prevent another bout of hyperventilating.

"So, I'm guessing some introductions are in order," Taichi says as he gathers everyone in a circle. Takeru watches as the child with goggles introduces himself and the other children in their stead. As he finishes, Tokomon steps forward from the group of digimon, signaling their start of introductions.

"I'm Tokomon," he says, grinning. "I'm Takeru's digimon partner!"

"Plotmon," the small puppy says. "Unlike the others, I'm a Child level digimon. My partner is Hikari," she finishes, only leaving more questions about what she means.

"I'm Tsunomon," the one with the bladed forehead speaks from his partner's side. "I'm Yamato's partner."

"I am Motimon," one of the digimon unknown to Takeru speaks. This digimon looks like a pink blob shaped like a thumb. "I am Koushiro's digimon partner. Nice to meet you," he finishes.

"I'm Pukamon," the gray dragon speaks, pointing at Jyou. "I'm his partner. Don't be afraid, I won't bite!" He jokes, floating towards Jyou.

"I'm Pyocomon," a pink bulb digimon says, her antenna looking appendage twitching. "I'm Sora's partner. It's nice to meet all of you."

"And I'm Koromon!" The last one shouts, bouncing up and down until Taichi catches him. "I'm Taichi's partner!"

After the introductions, the group starts to interact with their digimon, an odd feeling in creeping in the back of Takeru's mind. When he realizes what is wrong, he opens his mouth to speak, only to be beaten by Sora.

"Where's Mimi?" She asks, causing everyone to look around. They all notice that the girl wearing the pink cowgirl hat is missing. "Wasn't she with you three?" She asks Yamato, earning a shake of the head. "Jyou?"

"I was alone until I found you all," he admits, rubbing his arms together.

"Where could she be?" Koushiro wonders, getting up from his spot. "We sho-."

A loud shriek interrupts them all, sounding eerily familiar to them.

"Mimi!" They all shout, running to where they heard her scream. The group appears in a large clearing, looking for the missing girl, only to see her rush towards them, a green plant-like digimon being carried in her arms.

"Ah! Turn back! Turn back! Tanemon say's it's dangerous!" Mimi shouts at them, panic in her eyes.

"What are you ta-!" Taichi shouts back, only to see something large, red, and bug-like to appear above the forestry. "Not again!" He gripes, turning around as soon as Mimi makes her way to them. "This time, we fight!"

"Don't be reckless!" Yamato shouts at him, putting a protective cover around both Takeru and Hikari. "We have no weapons, and that thing can potentially kill us!" Shouts of agreement reach Taichi's ears, causing the goggle head teen to look back and decide.

"Fine, we run!" Taichi shouts, and everyone springs to action.

Everyone turns around this time, dashing in the same direction from which they entered the empty field. The buzzing of the giant red bug behind them is disconcerting for the younger children, possibly in the process of creating a trauma for them. Takeru shakes his head, clutching onto Tokomon even harder. He doesn't want to lose his new friend.

"What is that thing?" Takeru hears Yamato shout, frankly irritate due to all the running without rest.

"That's Kuwagamon!" Tsunomon replies from his side. "It's an Adult level digimon! Be careful for his Scissor Arms attack. I hear it cuts through digimon like cutting through paper!"

"That's lovely," Yamato grumbles, his legs gaining momentum due to the adrenaline rush. For a second, the Ishida child looks back, noticing how close Kuwagamon is to them. "Duck!"

Takeru feels his entire body being shoved to the floor, acknowledging that Yamato is the one who vaulted into him. He hears a small groan, noticing that Yamato also dragged down Hikari and Taichi with them. The four others also jump to the floor, Kuwagamon missing everyone by a hair's width.

"Keep going!" Taichi exclaims and Takeru feels himself being lifted onto his feet again. "Let's go!"

They all continue running once more; their adrenaline rush enabling them to push their limits to the extreme. Soon, they come face to face with a dead end, a cliff overlooking more of the forest and a rather large and wide river.

"Should we take another path…?" Taichi asks dumbfounded, wanting to deny the reality.

"What other path?" Yamato shoots back, giving Taichi a glare. "There's no other way!"

"Looks like we're going to have to fight!" Koromon exclaims, jumping out of Taichi's arms. All the digimon give a roar of agreement, jumping out of their respective partner's arms to join Koromon.

"Don't be reckless! Remember what happened last time?" Taichi shouts at him, scared for his new friend.

"Don't worry, we're supposed to protect you all," Tsunomon and Tokomon answer back, giving their partners a smile. Koromon nods along, agreeing with their reason.

No one else manages to make a comment as Kuwagamon finally reaches them, its pinchers poised for an attack.

"Take this! Baby Bubble!" All but Plotmon shout, jumping into the air and shooting pink bubbles at the giant stag beetle.

"Sledge Dash!" Plotmon shouts, ramming her full body into the black markings on Kuwagamon's face.

The combine attacks manage to stagger the enemy digimon, but the giant stag beetle manages to plow through all the digimon, sending them all careening back to where their partners are standing.

"Tokomon!" Takeru shouts, grasping his digimon partner. Everyone reacts in a similar way, fearful for their new friends and of the imposing danger of Kuwagamon.

"We have to fight Takeru," Tokomon manages to make out, weakly Takeru notices. "It's our job to protect you."

"No! Not if you're going to get yourself hurt!" Takeru shouts, grasping onto his partner much tighter than before. More sounds of refusal are clear in the air, Takeru noting that everyone else is facing a similar issue.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine!" Tokomon smiles at him, struggling to get out of the tight grip. After a few moments of struggle, Tokomon manages to break free and lands in front of Takeru. The other digimon manage this feat as well, landing in front of their partners. "Let's do it!"

Once again, the digimon charge at the Kuwagamon despite the outcries and protests from their human partners. Plotmon jumps ahead of the rest, her paw poised for another attack.

And that's when a miracle happens.

Takeru notices that everything seems to stop, as if time is frozen. He notes that all the children are staring at the exact same site as he is, all of them feeling a vibration coming from their side. Grasping at it, he remembers the object that fell from the sky before they were taken to this new world.

'_Let us assist you, Bearer of Hope,'_ a voice whispers past Takeru like the wind. He starts looking around for the source of the voice but comes up short.

"What was that?" Taichi asks, apparently having the same experience, but no one has an answer.

Suddenly, eight beams of light shoot from the sky once more, this time, encasing their digimon partners. Everything happens within that instant.

"Tokomon digivolves to … Patamon!" The white pig digimon appears to grow a little larger and slimmer, the antennae on his head becoming similar to the wings of a bat. His white body is covered in orange and cream fur.

"Tsunomon digivolves to … Gabumon!" The blade on his forehead becomes a horn, his body growing in size. Arms and legs sprout from the body as blue and white fur begin to grow along with his body.

"Plotmon digivolves to … Tailmon!" The puppy poised for battle suddenly becomes a white feline ready to pounce. The ring that was once around her neck is now situated towards the end of her now longer tail. Her gloved paws are poised, claws at the ready to strike at the enemy digimon.

"Koromon digivolves to … Agumon!" The small, pink digimon with antennae similar to Tokomon's grows in size, rivaling that of Gabumon. However, no fur or horn is grown at all, and all that is left is a yellow dinosaur like digimon.

"Pyocomon digivolves to … Piyomon!" The pink bulb suddenly sprouts wings for arms and talons for feet, a beak growing to where the mouth once was. The antenna on the top of her head is still there, now only becoming a more decorative feature on her head compared to before.

"Tanemon digivolves to … Palmon!" The green bulb like digimon morphs into something similar to a young plant, a flower now blooming on her head.

"Motimon digivolves to … Tentomon!" The pink thumb blob grows a hard shell, growing into the shape of an insect. His arms become claws, and on his back are now insect wings.

"Pukamon digivolves to … Gomamon!" The gray dragon morphs into a white spotted seal, his arms becoming longer and clawed.

"Wow," Takeru mutters in amazement, looking at the new digimon that stood where their partners once stood. Hikari nods in agreement, speechless.

"Attack!" Agumon shouts, recoiling his head in preparation for an attack. Seeing the new threat, the Kwagamon tries to escape.

"Poison Ivy!" Palmon shouts, extending her purple claws as a rope to catching the Kuwagamon.

"Take this! Air Shot!" Patamon shouts, puffing his entire body before releasing a violent blast of air at the red stag beetle. The attack connects and Kuwagamon falls to the floor. Palmon retracts her Poison Ivy, readying for another attack in case of another escape.

"Now it's our turn!" Agumon shouts. "Baby Flame!" A ball of fire erupts from his mouth, striking the enemy in the chest.

"Petite Flire!" Gabumon lets out a stream of blue flames, striking the same area as Agumon.

"Petite Thunder!" Tentomon buzzes, an electric shock coming from his claws, aimed right at the same spot as before.

Gomamon, being the ever so jolly being he is, simply rolls on his side, tripping up the Kuwagamon and forcing him down even more.

"Magical Fire!" Piyomon shouts in the air, a green spiral of flames striking the Kuwagamon's chest.

"And for the finisher! Neko Punch!" Tailmon shouts, striking the final blow to the chest and sending the Kuwagamon back into the forestry.

"You did it!" Taichi shouts, everyone rushing to their partners to congratulate them.

"Tokomon?" Takeru asks tentatively, looking at the orange bat-pig.

"I'm Patamon now!" Patamon smiles, jumping into Takeru's arms.

Everyone begins to talk animatedly with their partner, unaware of the foreboding danger still in their presence. Takeru hears Sora shout for Taichi, and the moment is broken. Everyone watches as red horns appear from the top of the trees, horns that belong to Kuwagamon. Said horns come crashing down to the ground, at the exact spot where Taichi and Agumon were standing. The earth shudders, cracks stemming from the damage caused by Kuwagamon's horns. The cracks spread farther and longer, spreading until they reach the sides of the cliff, effectively marking the end of the children and their digimon.

It all happens in slow motion for Takeru. Sora is the first to trip over the shuddering earth, bringing Piyomon with her. Taichi falls flat on his back, Agumon soon following. Jyou and Gomamon are the next to go down, being followed by Mimi, Koushiro and their partners. He feels an arm hug hum close and finds Hikari in the same position. Yamato is grabbing onto them, much like last time. Gabumon falls first to the floor, and Yamato is forced to stay on his knees, Takeru and Hikari going down with him.

As they all hit the floor, a definitive breaking of earth is heard, and the entire cliff side breaks apart, careening the children and their digimon towards their doom.

All Takeru remembers is the sensation of falling and screaming once more before feeling the impact of the water.

Kuwagamon looks over the now destroyed cliff for any remnants of the prey that escaped, finding nothing there. With nothing left, the red stag beetle flies away, looking out for future prey.

* * *

Little did the rest of the world know, these eight children now hold the power to change the world, for better or worse. The meeting with their digimon was barely just the beginning.

The beginning of bother their longest and shortest summer ever.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it. First chapter, or well, first 'Episode' is now complete. If you could tell, I'm modelling each chapter after every episode of the Digimon Adventure saga to act as a better retelling of sorts.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed this first chapter!**

**This is Van, signing off!**


	2. Burning Explosion! Enter, Greymon!

**A/N: And here is the second chapter (...'episode'...?) of the retelling of Digimon Adventure. Thanks to everyone who's gone out of their way to review the first chapter and bringing in suggestions. And thanks to those who put this story on their favorites and alerts! Honestly, I didn't expect anything like this to happen...**

**Well, without further ado...**

**DISCLAIMER: ****I do not own Digimon nor anything that has to do with the entire franchise. This work is purely fanfiction and shall not make any profit using the Digimon name nor its franchise.**

* * *

Takeru sits on the riverbed with everyone else, shock, fright, and even confusion play around their eyes. They had just fallen off a high cliff, were swept away by a raging river, so how did they manage to get to land in tact and together as a group? Takeru notes that everyone is sopping wet, their clothes sticking to their skin like glue, but for some reason, all of their bags remain dry. Even the digimon were slightly wet.

He recounts what happened leading up until now. Yamato grabbed both him and Hikari, pulling them into his sides. He remembers clutching onto Patamon for dear life, scared out of his mind. Takeru thinks it all over again, feeling as if there was something missing. His eight year old mind simply comes with answers including his brother being a big superhero or they were saved by some sheer luck. Shaking his head, he sticks with the idea that big brother Yamato had saved his life.

Getting up Takeru goes to take a look around the riverbed, finding that his brother and Taichi were standing a ways away from the rest of them. Being a little curious, the young Takaishi slowly makes his way there, bringing Patamon with him under the guise of wanting to play in the area. Feeling that he's close enough, he sits down with his partner, their backs toward the two older boys.

"…anks. You don't know how much it means to me," he hears Taichi say with relief and gratefulness. Takeru sneaks a quick peek over his shoulder, seeing Taichi give Yamato a brief hug. Naturally, his brother acts as if it is nothing, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

"You would do the same," Yamato replies, turning around and walking towards where he is sitting. "Hey there little buddy," the older Ishida greets as soon as he's close enough, crouching down to take off Takeru's hat to ruffle his hair. "You okay?"

Unable to voice an answer, Takeru nods, giving him a smile. His brother returned the smile, getting up and offering his left hand to lift Takeru up. This surprised the young boy, especially since he knows that Yamato usually offers his right arm and not his left. Brushing off the confusion, he accepts the gesture, taking his older brother's hand and pulling himself up. Patamon flies up, planning on passing overheard Yamato to land on Takeru's head, but he miscalculated the distance. The orange bat-pig accidentally flies into Yamato's right arm, causing him to yelp and hiss at the same time, his left hand flying to his right arm in response.

"Yamato!" Takeru shouts in a panic. No wonder his brother didn't offer his right hand! He quickly looks at it, noticing that his shoulder was bruised purple and bleeding. In the back of his mind, he notes that Taichi's made his way over to them, gasping at what Yamato hid from him earlier. Both Takeru and Taichi realize just why Yamato was turned slightly at an angle, he was hiding the injury. The makeshift cloth around his arm covering most of the wound seems to help him out too.

"I'm sorry!" Patamon squeals in fear, afraid that hurt his partner's older brother.

"Don't worry," Yamato grits through clenched teeth. "Nothing to worry about," he tells them, giving them a weak smile. "It was only an accident."

Patamon visibly deflates, knowing that Yamato is still in pain. He didn't mean to hurt him.

"We need to find Jyou!" Takeru exclaims, running ahead of them all to reach the older child. "Jyou! Jyou!" Takeru screams. He trips on a loose rock, falling down and scraping his hands and knees. Nevertheless, he stands up right away, ignoring his pain, thinking that his pain is nothing compared to Yamato's. "Jyou!"

"Takeru?" Jyou speaks, catching the his attention. From the looks of it, Jyou is busy taking care of dressing a cut on Tailmon's paw. "What's wrong?" He asks, finishing the bandaging. Tailmon gives him a quiet 'Thanks' before scampering off to join Hikari and the other girls.

"It's Yamato!" Takeru shouts, this time, catching the attention of everyone else. "He's hurt!"

"What?" Sora squeaks, getting up from her seat next to Mimi and Hikari. "Where is he?"

"This way!" That is all Takeru needs to say to get everyone to spring into action. He notices that Jyou was about to comment on his scrapes, but the issue with Yamato seems to be more pressing, so he left his comments to himself. "I've brought Jyou!" Takeru exclaims as they all reenter the area where Yamato and the rest stayed.

"Let me take a look," Jyou says, making his way to Yamato. He cringes at the sight, getting straight to work by pulling out a First Aid Kit from his satchel.

Takeru takes this moment to be grateful that Jyou is well versed in First Aid, knowing what to do in any given situation.

"This is going to hurt a bit," he hears Jyou warn his brother. And soon, a pop is heard and Yamato begins to scream loudly. "I'm sorry! But that is what I'm supposed to do! Now, we're going to have to disinfect and bandage that wound before putting your arm in a makeshift sling."

"How long?" Yamato asks, earning a quizzical look from Jyou. "Y'know, before I can use it again." It takes a while for Jyou to respond due to his current task of dressing Yamato's wound.

"Three to twelve weeks," Jyou tells him seriously. "We really need an adult," the oldest child mutters to himself, finishing the job. "There," he tells the Ishida. "You need to lay off on using it strenuously."

Takeru wants to ask what that word means, but decides against it. He'll just ask later, when everyone isn't worried about his big brother. The short blond child continues to watch the scene of Yamato's treatment, giggling during the attempt of putting the taller blond into a sling. Takeru is pretty sure that Yamato wants to scream in agony, but knowing his older brother, he just takes it all with a silent grimace. That's how Yamato has always been, taking things with a stride no matter how painful it may be. Takeru wants to be just like that when he gets to that age.

He notes that Taichi and Agumon has started a conversation to get everyone's minds off Yamato's injury, but Takeru is busy trying to break down and cry for his brother. His hands and knees are still screaming in pain as well, due to the fall earlier. Just like his brother, he takes it in stride, knowing that it will be a burden if he makes a commotion.

"Evolution," Koushiro's voice breaks Takeru out of his musings, realizing that he is touching on a subject that seems to be of importance. "The ability to change and adapt in any environment to ensure success of survival…"

Oh, this must be explaining why all their digimon look differently now.

After all the reintroductions, which Takeru thinks is rather funny since he knows that Patamon is Tokomon, Agumon makes a rather interesting comment that sets off everyone else into a round of questions.

"If it weren't for you Taichi," Agumon starts, "then I wouldn't have been able to evolve to Child level!"

"What did I do?" Taichi asks, confused and embarrassed. All the other children, Takeru included, wants to know the answer to that.

"I didn't have the energy to evolve on my own before!" Agumon smiles widely, and all the digimon nod in agreement as if it is the answer to everything.

"Wait," Hikari's voice breaks into the conversation, confusion laced slightly. "If you're all Child level now," she says, sweeping her fingers at all the other digimon, "then what about Tailmon?" She asks, pointing at her own partner. Takeru remembers that when he met Tailmon as Plotmon, she introduced herself as a Child level as well.

"I'm an Adult level now," Tailmon answers, flicking her tail left and right. "It's the next step in digimon evolution."

Before Koushiro can make any comment and furthering the discussion, Taichi interrupts everyone with a loud clap. Turning to him, everyone waits for him to speak, confused at his interruption.

"We should probably start heading out," he tells them. "I saw an ocean a while ago."

"Ocean?" Yamato asks wearily, earning a steady nod from Taichi. "I don't want to put anyone in danger…" he trails off, looking at both Takeru and Hikari. "But it seems to be the best choice for now." The moment Yamato begins to walk with Taichi, the rest of the group follows, Takeru and Hikari not too far behind their brothers.

"Big bro!" Takeru shouts, catching up to his brother, Hikari not far behind. "What happened?" He asks, looking at the arm in the sling. Yamato stays silent, leading Takeru to pout. "Please?" He asks again, getting a sigh in response this time.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Yamato asks wearily, noticing that Hikari is also present. The two children nod, Takeru wanting to find out what information he's missing and Hikari wanting to know why Yamato is injured. "It happened when we were falling down the cliff," he tells them, wincing at the memory.

He tells them everything, from how they fell into the river to how they were saved. According to the story, Yamato clung onto them since he was able to maintain consciousness even after the harsh impact with the water. Gabumon and he were able to stay afloat for the most part, both helping keep the unconscious Takeru and Hikari, along with their digimon partners, above water. He recalls that everyone else had fallen before him, meaning they were swept further ahead the river than the six of them, so there was no chance of help just yet.

That's when everything turned into chaos for Yamato. Gabumon shouted loudly, warning Yamato of what was about to happen. The cliff crumbled further, chipped away boulders falling into the river with a loud splash. This, in turn, caused large waves to form, swallowing them all and making them be swept along faster than before. It was at this time that Yamato saw a large rock sticking out of the middle of the river, and they were heading straight for it at high speeds. He noticed that if he didn't move, Hikari would take the brunt of the impact, and he didn't want to think of what would happen then. Through sheer willpower, he managed to turn to his side, saving Hikari for the price of his arm. He remembers how painful it was, having your shoulder become dislocated due to the impact, how the rocks dug into flesh and gashed his arm, how hard it was under these conditions to keep everyone above water even with the help of Gabumon.

But to him, these pains mean nothing since Hikari and Takeru are safe. It was only a dislocated shoulder and a gash on his arm; he can deal with that. He shudders, and Takeru notices this, both knowing just why Yamato would take the risk of injuring himself to save Hikari. Yamato knows what it's like to be a big brother, and he didn't want Takeru to ever be placed in the same situation.

"We were saved by Gomamon," Yamato continues. "He made a raft for them using his Marching Fishes attack. I saw them from afar and knew I just had to hold on long enough to get to them. Everyone was so worried for the two of you," he says, staring at the younger duo. "Luckily, everyone was panicking over both of your states over mine. I wouldn't have been able to handle all their worrying. During the commotion, I used a cloth I carry in my pocket to wrap my wound up. Everything else you already know since it went from you waking up on the riverbed to now," he concludes, noticing that the others were far ahead now.

During this time, the three of them, well six if the digimon partners are to be counted, managed to fall behind everyone else. Takeru looks to his friend on his right, noticing that Hikari has gone silent then entire time Yamato told them what happened. He sees tears gleaning her eyes, causing him to both panic and tear up as well. Yamato, seeing this, sighs and stops walking. This causes both Takeru and Hikari to pause.

"I'm sorry," Hikari manages to choke out before the water works begin. "It's all my fault," she continues staring down at the ground and shuddering. Her sobs become a little louder, catching everyone's attention now. Taichi makes his way there, brotherly instincts telling him that he needs to comfort her. He stops, seeing Yamato already crouching down and doing the job for him.

"Don't worry about it Hikari," Yamato says, and Takeru's eyes glaze over more. "It was my decision to protect you both," he tells her, wrapping the two in a one arm hug. "It's a big brother's duty to protect their siblings. Even if you don't want me to, I'd do it again and again if it means you're both safe and sound." This statement causes their sobs to increase, Takeru and Hikari clutching onto Yamato's top, staining it slightly with tears. The Takaishi child feels another pair of arms reach out to them, extracting them from Yamato's hold.

"That's right," the voice of Taichi makes its way to their ears, and both children clutch onto him this time. "Yamato made the decision himself, and I would have done the same thing in his case." He tells them, wiping their tears away.

It takes moments before Takeru and Hikari calm down, their sobs turning into small sniffles and solemn shudders. By the end of it all, the four siblings manage to make their way to the front with their digimon partners in tow, the beach coming into sights.

The entire time they traveled, Takeru's admiration for his older brother has grown more than before. He looks to Hikari, seeing the same shining admiration in her eyes for their older brothers, and the two share a knowing smile.

"I see the beach!" Taichi exclaims, pulling along Hikari, who in turn pulls both Takeru and Yamato along.

"Hold on, what's that?" Sora's voice cuts through the excitement, Taichi and the others slowing down. "I hear something," she says, her voice lowering. Sora puts a finger to her mouth, silencing them.

It takes a moment, but Takeru soon hears something as well.

"A phone?" The short blond asks. He hears the ringing loud and clear, and Sora nods in confirmation.

"Phone?" Jyou asks, excited now. "Then that means we can call our parents!"

With that thought, the group of eight children and eight digimon rush towards the beach, finding telephone booths lined perfectly in a straight line. Takeru and Hikari pause, feeling a sensation that something doesn't feel right. The two stick close together, watching their older siblings go into the phone booths.

'_Be weary Children of Hope and Light,'_ it was that voice again, the one from before. _'Something is ill in the air.'_ And just like before, the voice is gone.

"Big brother!"

"Bro!"

The two call for their brothers immediately, eyes wide in panic.

"What's wrong?" Taichi asks, jogging to them, confusion plain in his eyes. Yamato's not too far behind him, worried as to why they shouted.

Takeru and Hikari look at each other, trying to come up with a feasible excuse as well as a cover up.

"We're hungry," the two smile sheepishly, hands on their stomach. By a stroke of luck, their stomach grumbles and plays along, making their assertion rather convincing.

The older brother's look at each other, worry in their eyes. It seems that during all the commotion, they had forgotten all about food. By now, everyone else joins the pair of siblings, wondering why they look worried.

"That's right!" Jyou exclaims, his face lighting up with realization. He reaches into his satchel, pulling out emergency rations. "I was in charge of our group's food supply for summer camp!"

This causes everyone to cheer happily. Takeru soon stops short, face morphing into one of shock before digging into his backpack.

"I forgot! I brought snacks too!" He exclaims, opening his bag and shoving away all the other items inside to show his hidden stash. Everyone begins to sit around in a circle, putting all the food in the middle to be able to share the food evenly.

"Hey, Takeru," Mimi says, taking a seat to his right. "You don't go to Odaiba, do you?"

Everything goes silent as eyes turn to the younger child.

"Nope!" Takeru gives her a big smile, despite the heavy feeling in his heart. "It's summer vacation, so I decided to go visit Bro! Right?" He turns the situation on Yamato who barely stammers out a confirmation before turning away, embarrassed.

"Why do you call him Bro?" Koushiro asks, not noticing the blond brothers and the Yagami siblings becoming silent. "Is he your older cousin or something?" He continues with the question, pointing out that Takeru and Yamato have different last names. The only who notices the change in behavior is Sora.

"Hey, Koushiro," Sora interrupts, gaining his attention. Takeru, Yamato, and the Yagami siblings sigh in relief, all of them silently thanking Sora for changing the topic. "Does your laptop work here?"

The change of topic is successful, Koushiro forgetting his question in favor of checking whether or not his laptop works. Sadly, to everyone's misfortune, it doesn't.

"Well, I guess we can't check where we are," he sigh despondently.

"You all said we're on File Island, right?" Sora asks, referring to a conversation in the past. "Where in Japan is that?"

At the question, all of the digimon scrunch their faces in confusion, Gomamon voicing their thoughts a moment later. "Japan?"

"Wait," Jyou cuts in. "If we're not in Japan, then where are we?"

"We're in the Digital World silly!" Gomamon shouts jovially, jumping onto Jyou's back.

Before Jyou can retort, everyone's stomach groans in need of food, shutting down the topic to bring back the issue of the food. "Sadly, we weren't give much," he says, staring at the pile of food in the middle. "Even with Takeru's contribution of snacks, if you divide it evenly between the eight of us, then we'd have a good supply of food for three days."

"And then if you factor in the digimon, it's half that," Sora adds, making sure to get everything to be as accurate as possible. She doesn't want to leave out the digimon at all.

"There's that," Jyou nods in agreement. "That means we have a good supply for a day and a half, maybe two if you eat it sparingly."

"You really don't need to go that far for us," Piyomon says sadly, her eyes full of worry for her human friends. "We can just find our own food somehow."

"Really?" Yamato asks, staring at Gabumon who nods.

"Well then," the oldest child of the bunch claps, coming to a decision. "I know this may sound rather mean, but I guess we can just save the food for the humans then."

Takeru then notices something that no one else but Hikari and their digimon see.

Taichi is feeding Agumon his food.

The two younger children burst out in laughter, watching Agumon scarf down food only meant for Taichi.

"What's so…?" Jyou asks, following their line of sight and seeing Taichi. "Taichi! I said that the food is for the humans!"

"Oh…" Taichi says, embarrassed. "Too late for that!" He gives them all a charming smile, causing both Takeru and Hikari to laugh harder.

Before the group can ever start to eat, Tailmon and Patamon jump, staring at a particular spot in the sand. A second later, Piyomon stands, glaring as well.

"What's wrong?" Their three partners all ask in unison.

"Something's coming," Piyomon replies, and soon, all the digimon are prepared for a fight.

Within seconds, the sand begins to rise, clearing away to reveal a rather large blue shell. A fleshy pink can be seen through the only opening of the shell, revealing that the shell was not empty at all. A loud growl is heard, and soon, the pink flesh begins to move until it leaves the shell itself.

"That's Shellmon!" Tentomon gasps, flying higher than before. "An Adult level digimon! Watch out for the Hydro Pressure attack!"

Without hesitation, the Shellmon attacks, using its Hydro Pressure attack to

"We can take him!" Agumon says, rearing his head. "Baby Flame!" An orange fire ball rockets towards the hermit crab, striking the face area.

"Don't forget about us!" Gabumon shouts, wanting to join. "Petite Fi…re?" The attack fizzles in front of him.

"Magical Fi…re?" Piyomon's attack also fizzles out as she drops to the floor in defeat. "What?"

"How about this?" Tentomon flies up towards Shellmon's face. "Petite Lightn…ing?" The attack fizzles out just like Gabumon's and Piyomon's attacks. Shellmon swipes at Tentomon, sending him careening back to the rest of the group.

"What's going on?" Yamato says, crouching to eye level with Gabumon. The others continue to attempt at battling. "Why did Agumon's attack fall through but yours wouldn't?"

"Air shot!" Patamon puffs up, only releasing a small breeze in the end. He, too, gets knocked away easily.

"Poison Iv-!" Palmon is interrupted as her attack fails, Shellmon flushing her away with Hydro Pressure.

"Neko Punch!" Tailmon tries, her attack barely being a small tap on Shellmon's face. "No!" She screams before she's sent flying back.

"I think it's because we don't have the energy," Gabumon says sadly, ashamed of himself.

"Don't bring yourself down," Yamato says, using his good hand to rub Gabumon's head "We'll just leave it to Tai and Agumon. All right?"

"You heard him! Go, Agumon!" Taichi shouts, encouraging his digimon partner. Takeru watches in fascination as Taichi himself goes and joins the fray.

"What are you doing?" Yamato shouts. "Don't be so reckless!"

Before Taichi has a chance to respond, Shellmon uses the tentacles on the top of his head, grabbing the goggle wearing child.

"No, Taichi!" Agumon shouts distractedly. Shellmon uses this moment of opportunity and crushes Agumon with his arm.

"No, Agumon!" Taichi manages to gasp out, struggling to break from the constricting hold.

Takeru and everyone else watches in intense worry, Hikari almost breaking down once more that day. Both blond siblings turn to comfort her, telling her that Taichi is going to be fine. She isn't convinced until a miracle happens.

Taichi's device begins to glow from his side.

"Agumon!" Taichi screams out, louder than before. Takeru notices that there is a slight echo before the area is drowned out by a blinding light.

"Agumon digivolves to … Greymon!" The shout is heard within the light. Gradually, the intensity dims until the light is no more, leaving a giant orange dinosaur with a brown head trapped under the Shellmon's arm where Agumon once was.

"What?" Taichi asks, seeing the transformation. Due to the newcomer's arrival, Shellmon throws Taichi towards the others, wanting to focus on his new opponent.

"That's Greymon!" Gabumon informs them. "He's the Adult level form of Agumon! His special attack is Mega Flame!" Taichi instantly perks at this information, his face setting into that of determination.

"Go, Greymon!" Taichi shouts, causing everyone else to cheer for the newly evolved Adult. The two large digimon continue their fight, coming to a stalemate as fire and water collide. Takeru watches as Greymon grabs Shellmon and pushes his enemy away.

"Take this," Greymon reclines his head slightly, intense flames spewing out from the sides of his jaw. "Mega Flame!" The ball of intense fire strikes home on Shellmon's chest, staggering the giant hermit crab. "And now you're gone!" Greymon shouts, using his horns to lift his staggered opponent and throw Shellmon into the ocean.

All was silent as Greymon's giant form slowly changes back into Agumon's small form.

"Agumon!" Taichi shouts, running to his partner. "Are you all right?" He crouches down, checking for any injuries.

"Taichi…" Agumon trails tiredly. "I'm hungry," he finishes before slumping to the floor in hunger. Taichi's lips quirk into a smile before laughing in glee.

"C'mon Champ, you did it!" He says, trying to pick up Agumon as best as his physical stature allows him. "Guh," he grunts as he sets the giant lizard onto the ground near the food. "You were a lot easier to carry as a Koromon."

Everyone laughs at that, happy that the enemy has been beaten, that Agumon is fine, and that they can finally eat lunch. Takeru immediately grabs Patamon, Hikari and Tailmon in tow, and introduces his digimon partner to candy. The orange bat-pig squeals in delight at the taste, causing Takeru, Hikari, and even Tailmon to laugh.

The commotion dies down as lunch ends, Jyou still frantically trying to use the telephone booths to call home. Takeru and Hikari want to tell him to stop, but the conversation the other children catch their attention more.

"So, what do we do now?" Mimi asks, patting her dress as she stands.

"I'd say we wait here," Yamato suggests, looking around. "Who knows? The adults might come looking for us."

"What makes you think they'll find us?" Taichi retorts, remembering that Agumon had told him that he hasn't seen any other humans but them. "It'd be better if we head out and look for a town."

"Well, we can't make our way back to where we started," Sora says, staring in the general direction of the cliff they fell off of.

"We should just stay here," Yamato pushes, only to receive the same retort from Taichi again.

The two continue to argue it out, Takeru and Hikari watching them as if watching a tennis match.

"My neck hurts," Takeru mentions to Hikari, earning a giggle and a nod. This continues on until Koushiro intervenes.

"I'd like to make a point," Koushiro interrupts the arguing match. "I think it'd be best if we go," he continues. "Think about it. Shellmon could recover any time soon, and I doubt any of us would want to be here when he comes back." Making a solid point, Koushiro effectively shuts down the argument going on. "I understand both your points, but now we have to do this collectively as a group. And the group's safety comes first."

"All right," Yamato concedes, following the logic. "We should start heading out soon then."

Taichi thrusts his hand into the sky, shouting in glee. "We could leave now! Everyone's well rested and full. The sooner the better, right?" He poses to everyone, earning nods all around. "Good, then, let's go!" He shouts, taking charge and leading the group back to the forest.

As they walk, Takeru's face morphs into one of remembrance, turning to his older brother.

"Hey, Bro, what does 'strenuous' mean?"

* * *

**A/N: Looks like Takeru was able to ask Yamato after all!**

**Looks like things are starting out to be pretty eventful for our favorite Chosen Children! Koushiro's being shut down every other question. The Siblings Duo are being secretive. Things are going crazy, but then again, it's Digimon! And poor Yamato, having to pop back in a dislocated shoulder along with a gash. We'll have to see how that fares out in the future!**

**Next time, sibling fall outs and ins.**

**Something I forgot to add last chapter was a Japanese to English translation for those not familiar with the original Japanese names. I'd like to amend that mistake here by putting a translation for the characters, digimon, and attacks used that are not similar to the English Dub. And thank you again for pointing it out in a PM!**

**Characters  
_Japanese - English_  
****Yagami Taichi - Taichi "Tai" Kamiya  
Yagami Hikari - Hikari "Kari" Kamiya  
Ishida Yamato - Matt Ishida  
Takaishi Takeru - Takeru "TK" Takaishi  
Takenouchi Sora - Sora Takenouchi  
Kido Jyou - Joe Kido  
Izumi Koushiro - Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi**

**Chosen Children - Digidestined**

**Digimon  
_Japanese -_**** English  
****Pyocomon - Yokomon  
Piyomon - Biyomon  
Pukamon - Bukamon  
Plotmon - Salamon  
Tailmon - Gatomon**

**Attacks  
_Japanese -_****_ English_****_  
_Baby Flame - Pepper Breath  
Mega Flame - Nova Blast  
Air Shot - Boom Bubble (PUFF!)  
Petite Punch - Petty Punch  
Sledge Dash - Sledge Crash  
****Neko Punch - Lightning Paw  
****Magical Fire - Spiral Twister  
****Petite Fire - Blue Blaster  
****Petite Flame - Electro Shocker  
Scissors Arm - Scissors Claw  
Hydro Pressure - Aqua Blaster**

**Digimon Levels  
_Japanese -_ _English_  
Baby I (I shall refer to this as Infant) - Fresh**  
**Baby II (I shall refer to this as Baby) - In-training**  
**Child - Rookie**  
**Adult - Champion**  
**Perfect - Ultimate**  
**Ultimate - Mega**

**I'm sorry if I missed something this time! I'll be adding this translation section at the end of each story in the Bottom A/N like Foot Notes for every chapter that will be needing a translation section.**

**This is Van, signing off! Until next time!**


	3. Hear the Lupine Howl! Enter, Garurumon!

**A/N: Hello there dear readers of A General "What If" - Digimon Adventure! I'd like to apologize in the late publishing of this chapter. The weekends aren't kind on my time schedule... Anyway, before we begin, I'd like to just throw out there as a reminder that Yamato's arm is currently broken, battered, bloody, and in a sling to boot. Now, I had to re-watch the third episode to get a general gist of where my little twists would change the events in "canon", and it just so happens that I forgot how Yamato faces the Seadramon and the events the come along with it.**

**I suddenly felt bad for everything I've been doing to poor Yamato, but that's the way it just so happens to go...**

**Well, on with the story! But first...**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon nor anything that has to do with the entire franchise. This work is purely fanfiction and shall not make any profit using the Digimon name nor its franchise.**

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Takeru walks besides his brother and the Yagami siblings. Three hours have passed since the entire beach ordeal, Agumon evolving to Greymon and Shellmon attacking them. From then until now, Takeru and Hikari have been listening to Taichi question Agumon about the impromptu evolution, everyone's comments and questions, Koushiro's theories and inquiries, Tentomon's input, and Mimi's princess-like remarks. Everyone time the girl with the pink cowgirl hat made a comment, Yamato would involuntary twitch and Takeru would laugh as his brother's reaction. Now, thanks to the Princess herself, their current destination is a large lake that Tentomon had spotted a few sparing minutes ago.

"Takeru," Hikari says, catching the younger blond child's attention. "How much farther do you think the lake is?" She pants raggedly, alerting the two older siblings now.

"Don't worry," Takeru smiles at her, tired just the same. "Not much longer, right Patamon?"

"Yup!" Patamon's cheer brighten's both Takeru and Hikari's face. "We should be there in a few minutes," the orange bat-pig smiles from Takeru's arms.

"I can smell the water," Tailmon supplies from Hikari's side. "Not much longer now."

Their walk continues for nearly ten minutes, everyone griping about tired feet at one point or another, before they finally reach the lake.

"Let's go swimming!" Gomamon shouts, being the first to jump into the large body of water.

"Let's not!" Mimi retorts in humor causing everyone to chuckle. She starts to look around, and Takeru notices that her face contorts into one of displeasure. "I know this might sound like a silly question…" she trails off, earning Taichi's attention. "Does camping out really mean we're sleeping outside?" The blond duo stumble slightly, despite standing still.

"Of course!" Taichi offers her a comforting smile. He looks around, trying to find a good spot to set up camp. That is when a noise catches all of their attention. "What was that?" He asks, turning his head to where the sound originated.

All the children turn their heads to the source, finding a cable car stationed in the middle of an island. The island itself is connected to the mainland through a land bridge, making it easy for people to reach it. Sora is the first one to make a comment.

"A cable car?" She asks incredulously, both surprised and suspicious. However, her hope of finding any other humans overrides those feelings. "We should go check it out! There might be someone inside!"

At the prospect of finding other humans, the entire group rush to the cable car, crossing the land bridge. Takeru and Hikari are towards the front of the group, right behind their brothers who were leading the rest. The ominous feeling they felt earlier on the beach resurfaces in their minds, but they push it away this time, exhaustion becoming the main reason. Takeru watches as Taichi is the first to enter the vehicle, quickly followed by Yamato, only to see both their faces fall in disappointment. There aren't any humans in the cable car.

"Oh, these seats are so comfy!" Mimi exclaims, sitting on the plush seats of the vehicle. "I wouldn't mind sleeping here!" She smiles widely, finding an alternative from camping outside. Sora and Koushiro share her sentiments, both of them bouncing their palms on the seats.

"Great! Now that our sleeping situation is solved, let's find something to eat!" Taichi announces, and everyone sets off to work.

The group all gets an assigned task, each task having a total of two people working. Sora and Jyou are to set up the bonfire area, Taichi and Hikari will get the firewood for the fire, Takeru and Koushiro are to find some food, and Yamato and Mimi will help supervise and help any group whenever it is needed. All the digimon are to help their partners with their tasks by any means possible. Takeru giggles at Yamato griping about not being given a better task, blaming it on his current injury.

Takeru follows Koushiro outside, the older child wanting to continue his questioning from earlier under the guise of wanting to catch fish. The two find a spot near the outer edge of the lake, Koushiro bringing out a makeshift fishing pole that was made from a shaved tree branch and strong metal thread, all items and materials courtesy of Mimi and her Survival Kit. Staring at the fishing pole, Takeru is reminded of the entire conversation that was brought up when Mimi revealed what was in her bag, chuckling at the thought.

The two sit down, Koushiro casting his line. They wait in silence, the red head trying to find an appropriate approach to the topic while the blond merely sits there waiting for fish to bite. Staying like this, minutes pass swiftly before Koushiro finally decides on an approach.

"Takeru," he starts, hoping to not come off sounding rude. "I noticed that you keep on calling Yamato Bro." Koushiro doesn't notice Takeru suddenly tense up, and the younger blond's face falls slightly. "I just wanted to know why is i-."

"Takeru!" Patamon and Yamato interrupt Koushiro, earning the blond child's attention. Koushiro gives a sigh of irritation, but drops the topic. Takeru, however, gives a sigh of relief, not wanting to talk about that certain subject any time soon. "We need some help!" The two yell again, prompting Takeru to stand now.

"Sorry," he bows to Koushiro in apology. "I'll be right back!" He shouts, making his way to his digimon partner and his brother. Takeru hears Koushiro sigh once more in defeat before scolding Gomamon for swimming to close to where he's fishing. Once at his brother's side, Takeru gives him a thankful smile.

"Thank Patamon," Yamato says, jerking his thumb. "He fetched me when he saw you tense at Koshirou's questions." At that, Takeru turns to his partner, giving him a smile and a hug. "Now, what to do so that we're actually working?"

"We can always look for other food!" Takeru suggests, excited to work with his brother. "I heard Tentomon say that there were berries in the forest before he joined us in fishing."

And for the next few moments of their lives, Takeru, Yamato and their digimon partners scavenge through the forest around the lake, searching high and low for these rumored berries. They actually found quite a lot, using and Takeru's backpack to their advantage as a basket. Patamon and Gabumon help in their endeavor, telling them which berries are safe, which ones aren't, and which ones are their favorites. By the end of their excursion, they finish with Takeru's backpack being full of picked berries. Luckily for him, he brought extra plastic bags, so he used those to keep the items inside safe. Upon seeing the extra bags as they walk back to the campgrounds, Patamon questions their decision to use the backpack instead of the extra bags.

Both blonds pause, only to burst out in laughter at their mistake.

"What's so funny?" Taichi asks, walking into the clearing with bundles of firewood in his arms. He goes to the bonfire circle, placing the firewood down intricately. Hikari follows behind him, placing her small bundle to the side for later use. "Well?" He asks again, raising an eyebrow as he finishes up.

Takeru ends up telling them, causing the Yagami siblings to laugh as well. When all is said and done, the four of them look at the pit. The smaller blond notices that Jyou and Sora make their way to them, inspecting their work as well.

"So, how are we going to light this up?" Sora asks, pointing out the fact that they didn't have a match on hand at the moment. "Maybe we should get Mimi. I remember her saying she has a few matches and even a lighter."

"I'll do it!" Agumon's voice drifts into their conversation, the yellow dinosaur running towards them. "Baby Flame!" He shoots a fire ball into the pit, bringing the bonfire to life.

"Thanks buddy!" Taichi pats Agumon on the head, giving him a thumbs up. "Now, for food…" He trails, hunger sounds erupting from his stomach. Everyone around them laughs as their own stomachs start to agree.

"We found a ton of berries," Yamato tells them, motioning for Takeru show them. Jyou lays out a blanket that was found in his Medical Satchel, spreading it out for any available food to be placed on. Takeru empties his backpack of the berries, surprising everyone by the amount that they found. One by one, they all start taking their seats around the fire.

"Where's Koushiro and Mimi?" Sora asks, taking a silent head count.

"Koushiro was fishing the last time I saw him," Yamato replies. "I don't know about Mimi though. I saw her walking into the woods, claiming something along the lines of 'needing to go do something'."

"Well, that 'something' is this," a voice behind them all speaks, and Mimi appears from the forest line. "I assumed we'd need these," she says, showing them eight large skewers. "They're all handmade with care. Oh! And these too," Mimi produces a plastic bag from seemingly nowhere full of mushrooms. "Palmon helped me find the best ones!"

"Gah," Taichi twitches, seeing one more thing missing from the many foods placed before him. Takeru glances at him as does Yamato and Hikari, the three of them quirking eye brows at the goggle wearing teen. It takes Hikari a few seconds to realize her brother's predicament, giggling at the revelation. "Where's the meat?" He cries out, causing everyone to laugh at his expense.

"Right here!" Koushiro approaches them, three lines full of six fish each dangle from his outstretched arms. "Fish anyone?" He smiles, Taichi lunging straight at him.

"Me!" Taichi grabs a fish from one of the lines, using one of the skewers that Mimi made to make a kabob. He then holds the fish over the fire, only to receive a thump on the back of his head. "Hey! What was that for?" He asks, turning to glare at his offender. Taichi turns to see that it was Yamato.

"You're doing it wrong," the older blond tells him calmly, plucking the kabob out of the brunette's hands. "You gotta place it near the fire like this," he demonstrates, stabbing the wooden end into the floor, angled so that the fish is close enough to the fire to cook.

"Huh, you seem to know what to do," Taichi comments, thanking Yamato with a nod.

"I've gone camping before," Yamato answers curtly, doing the same for Takeru's and Hikari's kabobs. "I'll tell you when it's cooked," he says to his little brother, earning a smile.

"Thanks Bro!" The younger blond chirps and smiles, earning more quizzical looks from everyone but the Yagami siblings. "But wait, what about the bones?"

"It's okay! Just bite it from the head and work your way down!" Taichi grins, earning a glare from Yamato and a frown from Hikari. "What?" He asks, clueless of the reason behind their expressions.

Shaking his head, Yamato turns to Takeru. "It's okay," he tells him. "I'll take the bones out… wait. Mimi! Can you hand me a mushroom real quick? And your Swiss army knife too!" Yamato asks of the girl, a mushroom being handed to him in response. He skewers the rather large mushroom using his skewer, placing it near the fire to cook.

"What're those for?" Takeru asks, a mystified expression gracing his face.

"Just watch," his older brother instructs and Takeru complies.

The next few minutes are spent watching Yamato work. Making sure that the mushroom is thoroughly cooked, he places the mushroom into the hand supported by the sling while steadying the knife in the other. He uses the knife to cut the stem and hollow out the head, making a rather edible bowl to eat from. Yamato then cuts the stem into smaller, chewable pieces and places them inside the hollow mushroom head bowl. Finally, to finish up, he takes Takeru's fish, gutting it of any and all bones before putting the torn pieces of meat inside the bowl. He adds a few berries for extra color before serving the concoction to his little brother.

"Wow!" Takeru gushes, causing Yamato to turn his head in order to hide his reddening face. Even with a sling and a broken arm, Yamato seems to amaze Takeru more and more. "Thanks Bro!" Yamato gives him an uncommitted grunt of acknowledgement, turning to his own food.

"Why can't you be like that big brother?" Hikari asks pouting, causing everyone to stare at her. Takeru is the only one who notices the familiar glint in her eye, knowing that all of this is an act. Sadly, the accused party doesn't get the memo.

"What?" Taichi yelps, jumping up. "I can be like that too!" He shouts, stomping over to Yamato, taking the knife rather dangerously. Imitating Yamato's actions and a few minutes later, Taichi serves a similar looking bowl to Hikari. "See!"

Hikari can't hold in her giggles anymore, releasing it all out as she thanks her brother for the food. Takeru soon follows her lead, and Yamato and Taichi realize that everything that happened was all an act. Scowling, Taichi moves to swipe the food back from Hikari, only to have the girl move away and run for protection behind Yamato. Taichi huffs and sits back down, sulking as he eats his food.

The group of children and digimon soon calm down, eating away at the assortment of food they gathered, wanting to save the left over rations from the morning in case of emergencies. Within minutes, they all finish their food and Taichi stands to stretch.

"So, let's all get ready to sleep!" He says with a large grin, his arms stretching towards the sky. The other children follow his lead, standing up one by one after they finishing cleaning their own messes.

"Wait!" Yamato barks, making everyone pause. "What if another one of those digimon come and attack us? We're going to need some form of watch going on," he tells them all, and everyone realizes the possibility.

"Oh, that's right," Taichi nods in agreement, his face scrunching as he thinks of a solution. "How about this? The girls can all go sleep while the guys take turns being the lookout."

"Let's not include Takeru in the list of lookouts," Yamato says, causing Takeru to shoot a look at his brother.

"I can do it!" The younger child shouts, his face frowning. He tries to puff up his chest in an intimidating way, but he fails miserably. "I'm a big kid too!"

"No Takeru," Yamato gives him a stern look. "You're going to sleep with the girls and that's final." With a pout, Takeru goes to walk with Sora and the girls back to the cable car with their digimon not so far behind.

Takeru faintly hears the rest of the conversation as he walks away, picking up that Taichi was going to be first watch and his brother second. Everyone besides Yamato and Taichi enter the lone vehicle, choosing a bench to rest on and falling asleep within minutes, sans Takeru. Each child is either laying flat on their back or huddled into a corner of the seat. Takeru is the latter of the two positions. The Takaishi child hears one of the many doors slide open, and he cracks an eye open. Yamato is silently walking towards them, Gabumon behind him. His older brother sits next to him, and he tries to not move as the cushion seats shift under Yamato's weight.

"Didn't think you'd take the seat far in the back and away from the others," Yamato comments, one of his hands playing with Takeru's head. Quiet and gentle, he goes to takes his little brother's hat off, placing it on the opposite seat along. The older sibling notes that the backpack is being used as a pillow to lean on. Slowly, he moves his brother's head so that he's resting on his lap. "Don't want you getting a neck cramp in the morning."

Takeru tries to make convincing grunts as he shifts to the side, and surprisingly, he's successful. Yamato chuckles, smoothing his brother's hair once more before using his only free hand to pull out a harmonica. Soon, Takeru hears the melodious music float through the air, and a smile tugs on his mouth. Deciding it was time to 'wake up', Takeru's eyes flutter open and yawns.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" He hears his older brother ask, halting his harmonica playing.

"Keep playing," Takeru mumbles, scooting closer towards his brother's abdomen and shaking his head in response to the question asked. "Keep playing, please Bro?"

Yamato smiles and complies.

The melodious tunes return and all is peaceful within the cable car. Yamato's playing continues for a span of an hour before Takeru slowly drifts into a state of unconsciousness, his mind and body finally preparing for sleep. However, with past experience, peace can never last for so long.

'_Be careful Bearers of Hope and Friendship,'_ two voices intermingle with each other, sounding paradoxically distorted and harmonic. _'We sense danger in the midst.'_

Takeru's eyes shoot wide open while Yamato's harmonica playing suddenly stops. The two brothers look at each other, both realizing that they both had heard the voices. The younger brother notes that Patamon and Gabumon are wide awake as well, sensing something amiss.

"Takeru? Yamato? Where's my big brother?" Apparently both Hikari and Tailmon are awake now too.

"Hikari? What are you doing up?" Yamato asks, getting up and walking towards the younger Yagami. She decided to sleep closer to one of the doors. "You should go back to sleep."

"But…" she trails off, worry laced in her voice. "I have a bad feeling," she finishes lamely, looking away. This causes Yamato to jolt and stare at her with wide eyes.

"You heard it again?" Takeru asks from his spot, getting up and putting his hat back on. He slips his backpack on as well before walking to the two of them.

"What do you mean again?" Yamato asks, confused. Realizing that everyone else was still asleep, he decides to take this conversation outside. He needed to start his shift anyway.

"Yamato? Hikari? Takeru?" Taichi's voice breaks their quiet atmosphere, confusion lacing his voice. "What are you all doing out here?" He asks them, pointing to their digimon as well.

"Just wanting to get a bit of fresh air," Yamato replies a little too quickly, causing Taichi to narrow his eyes in suspicion. "It's time for my shift anyway, so do you think you can watch them?"

Sighing in defeat, Taichi goes and switches places with Yamato, their respective partners doing the same. "So," he starts, "did all get a good sleep?"

Takeru, Hikari and their digimon partners all nodded in unison, causing the goggle wearing teen to chuckle. He turns to ask Yamato as well, but stops the moment he hears a harmonic being played. Quieting down, those who are still awake sit down by the still roaring fire, listening to the music as if they were enchanted.

"Wow, he's really good," Hikari whispers to Takeru, the other child beaming in brotherly pride. "Hey, Takeru," she starts a sudden change in topic, catching the attention of her brother and the younger blond.

"Yeah Hikari?" Takeru responds, confused and curious.

"Why don't the others understand that you and Yamato are actually brothers?" She asks, and she sees him visibly stiffen. "Sorry," she apologizes quickly, looking down in shame.

"Don't worry about it," Takeru gives her a smile, trying to calm her down. He knows that she didn't mean anything by it in the first place, so there was nothing for her to be sorry for. "To be honest, I don't know."

"It's probably because they think you two are only cousins," Taichi asserts, adding his own two cents into the conversation. No one notices the harmonica stop playing in the background. "It's common for younger cousins to look up to their older cousins as if they were actual siblings. Having two different last names doesn't really help with the situation." After he says this, Taichi flinches, feeling that he had said something the wrong way. An awkward silence fills the air.

"Well, we can't help it now, can we?" Yamato's voice penetrates the silence, venom dripping off every word spoken. "We didn't want this to happen, but apparently, we were forced into the situation without a second thought."

"Yamato…" Taichi trails off, unsure of how to handle calming Yamato down. The two aren't really close friends, and their only similarity was that they are both older brothers. The two swore to each other that they would help take responsibility for the other's younger sibling, a promise only older brothers can make. Sadly, Taichi knows he hasn't had the chance to actually get to know the older blond, especially since their personalities clashed a lot.

"Bro…" Takeru mutters, his voice sounding as if it was going to break. His eyes start to water, tears threatening to fall over. He knows just how much his brother despises their unique situation, but he despises the fact that he cannot do much about it more. Takeru gets up and walks to his older brother, hugging him.

No one notices the embers from the fire crackle and land on a mysterious red spot in the dirt. No one notices said red spot moving, burned by the embers. No one notices anything until the earth starts to shake. By then, they know that they noticed the problem a little too late.

"What's happening?" Taichi shouts as Hikari clings onto him. Takeru does the same, but he's careful not to aggravate Yamato's injuries.

To answer his question, a whirlpool begins to materialize in the water in front of them, swirling faster and faster until a large being rises from its center. The creature shares a likeness to a serpent with a long slender body the color of the sea and a rather bright yellow head.

"That's Seadramon!" Tailmon informs them. "He's an Adult level digimon who uses his special attack Ice Arrow to trap his enemies!"

"Alright, it's time to digivolve!" Tai announces and Agumon steps up to face the enemy. After a few seconds, everyone is left staring in confusion.

"I can't Taichi!" Agumon wails.

"Looks like we're going to have to deal with him without the powers of an Adult," Taichi mutters. "Attack!"

"Hey! I'm an Adult!" Tailmon retorts, jumping at the Seadramon. "Neko Punch!" The white feline gracefully lands after the attack right next to Taichi, glaring at her partner's brother. Hikari giggles at this.

"Sorry Tailmon!" Taichi apologizes, watching as Agumon uses his Baby Flame attack.

"Hmph!" She pouts, turning her head.

"Petite Fire!"

"Air Shot!"

The two attacks hit home, striking the Seadramon on the face. Aggravated, the serpentine lashes out and strikes with its tail, using Ice Arrow as soon as they dodge out of the way. Tailmon is struck, frozen at her feet and rendered incapacitated.

"No, Tailmon!" Hikari shouts, running to her partner. Taichi tries to stop her, but he ends up getting knocked away by Seadramon's tail. Takeru runs to her side, Patamon using Air Shot to keep the enemy away.

Seizing the chance, Seadramon uses another Ice Arrow with the intent of trapping the other three to the spot, only to have Yamato cover them up with the blanket and use his own body as a shield.

"Yamato!" Takeru hears Gabumon scream and, coupled with the lack of vision of the fight, begins to panic. He flings the blanket off of the four of them, only to see Taichi standing in front of them with Agumon fighting back.

Yamato is nowhere in sight.

"Where's my brother?" Takeru shouts in hysteria, scared and confused. His question is ignored as the others either didn't know or were too focused on the battle. He opens his mouth to ask again, but closes it as his question is answered by the scene before him.

Seadramon was holding Yamato with its tail, tightly Takeru might add by the look of Yamato's pain-filled face. The constricting hold begins to take its toll on the older blond, his face screaming in silent agony.

Takeru wonders why he feels so uneasy until he remembers one very crucial fact.

Yamato's arm still hasn't healed yet.

Yamato's arm is still in pain.

Takeru is rooted to the spot by fear, forced to watch as his brother suffers alone. A shout brings him out of his stupor, finding Gabumon glowing right next to him. The blinding light forces everyone to shy away, clenching their eyes tightly and even covering them with their hands.

"Gabumon digivolve to … Garurumon!" A lupine howl fills the air, and for a moment, Takeru thinks it is ironic since the night is illuminated by a full moon. In place of where Gabumon once stood now stands a grand white wolf with blue stripes zigzagging in jagged streaks. The horn disappeared but is replaced with a larger wolfish snout. It seems that Gabumon has grown into the fur that surrounded him before like a cape.

"Yamato!" Garurumon screams for his partner, launching himself towards the large serpent. He uses his enlarged jaw to bite onto the side of Seadramon, causing immense pain to the enemy digimon and forcing him to let go of Yamato. Unfortunately, the older blond was left to fall into the waters below.

Yamato, despite being an avid swimmer, is still injured, and Takeru chalks swimming under the category of 'strenuous' activities. He also chalks 'fighting enemy digimon' under the same category as well. Takeru watches in despair as his brother sinks into the water without a struggle.

A blue of blue and brown zips past Takeru, and he realizes that the blur is Taichi. The older Yagami swims towards the place where Yamato was unceremoniously dropped, intent on saving him. Taichi dives into the water, surfacing quickly with Yamato, both of them coughing relentlessly. With the help of Taichi, Yamato makes it back to shore completely drenched.

Despite his older brother's current state, Takeru rushes towards him, hugging Yamato and sobbing. Small apologies are made between the two, a heartwarming moment ruined by the loud roar of Seadramon. They all turn to look at the fight, finding Garurumon being pelted with a barrage of Ice Arrow.

"Let 'em have it!" Yamato shouts, thrusting his uninjured arm in the air.

"Take this! Fox Fire!" Garurumon fires of a steady stream of blue flames, countering and overpowering the Ice Arrow. The blue flames are then blasted into Seadramon's face and forcing the serpent away. Garurumon sends another stream of Fox Fire, attacking the chest this time. Seadramon retreats back into the depths of the lake, unable to take the attack any longer.

"You did it!" Yamato exclaims as Garurumon makes his way to his partner, reverting back into Gabumon as he approaches. "Good job," he smiles, and Gabumon looks away in embarrassment.

"What's all the commotion?" Jyou's voice interrupts all their celebrations, groggy from sleep. It seems that the battle woke him up.

"Is it morning already?" Mimi's soft voice carries soon after Jyou steps out of the cable car, and she too appears in front of them.

Takeru takes this moment to actually look around, noticing the sun breaking upon the horizon.

"Yeah," he answers, surprising his brother, the Yagami siblings and their digimon. They all look towards the sky, noticing the changing colors due to the sunrise.

"Well, I guess this is a good morning then," Sora's voice joins their conversation, sounding as if she were fully awake unlike the previous two.

"Good morning to you all," Koushiro says, a little groggy. "Why is everyone up so early in the morning?"

"Early risers?" Taichi answers unconvincingly, earning a strange look from the other three children who were awake throughout the battle.

"Then what was all that screaming, shouting, and water splashing that I heard?" Jyou asks, confused. Taichi tries to come up with a valid excuse, eyes roaming back and forth. He opens his mouth to answer, but he's cut off by Yamato.

"That must've been me you heard. I kinda tripped on a loose rock, landed on the edge of the island with my broken arm and fell into the water," the older blond says without batting a single eyelash.

This causes Jyou to snatch the injured arm, only to find it bleeding profusely again. "I thought I told you to be careful!" The oldest child of the bunch shouts, taking this time to change the bandages.

"I was!" Yamato shouts back, offended slightly. It takes minutes to change his bandages.

Stomachs start to grumble and the atmosphere changes from pensive to humorous. The group of eight children and their digimon sit down, eating some of the snacks that Takeru had brought to summer camp. They all each had small portions, but they all feel that it is enough to pacify them for the next few hours.

"We should probably get out of here and start looking for those villages," Taichi suggests, earning nods from everyone but Mimi.

"But what about this cable car!" She pouts, already missing the luxury of the soft cushions.

"We're going to have to make do without it," Taichi tells her bluntly. "We have no way to even bring that cable car with us in the first place."

Sighing in defeat, Mimi also consents to start on looking for any of the villages they suspect are on File Island. After gathering all their belongings and cleaning up to the best of their abilities, the group sets out, hoping to find a village before nightfall.

As is usual, the group is being lead by the two sets of siblings and their digimon, with the younger siblings in the middle and the older siblings flanking their sides. Jyou and Koushiro take up the rear with their digimon while Sora, Mimi and their partners are in the middle.

"So," Taichi starts in a low voice, not wanting to have the others know of their conversation. "Mind telling me why you were all outside now?"

Yamato's face twists again, not knowing just how to answer that. He opens his mouth only to have Hikari answer for him.

"I heard a voice saying there was danger," she tells him with a straight face.

"Just like the time when Agumon digivolved into Greymon," Takeru supplies, earning a shocked look from Yamato and Taichi.

"You mean, you've heard it before?" Taichi asks, and the two younger siblings nod.

"So that's what you meant by 'again'," Yamato concludes, his face alit with understanding.

"Now that makes me wonder," Taichi starts, earning their attention now. "Why is it that Agumon couldn't digivolve this time, but Gabumon could? And for that matter, why can Tailmon stay in her Adult form while Agumon and Gabumon couldn't?"

"I was on the edge of digivolving into my Adult form before you all arrived," Tailmon explains. "The small boost during the fight with Kuwagamon was all I needed really. Agumon and Gabumon were barely reaching Child level at the time, so they don't have enough experience and energy to keep up their Adult forms."

"What made you so far ahead of the rest?" Taichi asks, receiving an uncommitted shrug in response.

"I hatched early, if that helps," Tailmon finishes her end of the conversation with a mysterious note. "As for Gabumon being the only one who evolved earlier, it might have been due to the fact that Yamato was in danger. Remember? Same thing happened with you and Agumon."

"Oh yeah," Taichi nods in agreement, memories of the previous day resurfacing back into his mind. "That makes sense."

Before anyone else can make any additional comments, a strong gust of wind picks up, effectively causing all the children to turn their faces to avoid any debris from going into their eyes.

Through Takeru's cracked eyes, he sees something black in his peripheral vision, floating there menacingly and still.

'_To the ground!'_ That same voice that warned him of danger the past two times sounds in his head again, and he falls straight to the floor, noticing that everyone else had done the same. As he dropped to the floor, he sees the black object zoom straight towards them, passing through where his head once was. As soon as the gust of wind dies down, everyone starts to stand up, brushing off the dirt from their clothes.

"What was that?" Takeru mutters, looking around. "I heard something pass over my head."

Everyone looks at him, shocked to know that they weren't the only ones who heard something pass over their heads. They all turn to where the sound of the object zoomed past, only to come face to face with a tree.

A tree with a dark, black gear embedded in its trunk.

* * *

**A/N: Yep, that just happened. I still feel bad with what I do with Yamato, but eh, all's well that ends well... I think.**

**So, small recap of the chapter for people who follow the "tl;dr" lifestyle. (Honestly, I hope none of the readers follow that lifestyle for this story...)  
1. Group finds random cable car.  
2. Group experiences camping.  
3. Gabumon digivolves into Garurumon and beats up the bad guy.  
4. Tailmon alludes to her life previously before the other digimon hatched and offers her reasons for many questions.  
5. Takeru was almost attacked by a black colored gear.**

**And for the translations...**

**Notable translations from this chapter include:**

**Attacks  
_Japanese -_****_ English_**_  
_Ice Arrow - Ice Blast  
Fox Fire - Howling Blaster

**I'd like to apologize if I missed any translations and for any typos and grammatical mistakes I may have missed during editing.**

**Well, anyway, next chapter? The other children get more screen time than before! Or well, it depends with Takeru really.**

**This is Van, and thanks for reading!**


	4. Fiery Wings Soar! Enter, Birdramon!

**A/N: Hello again! Welcome to the fourth chapter/episode of A General What If - Digimon Advneture (AGWI-DA)! First off, I'd like to apologize in the delay of this chapter. I had trouble trying to think of smoother transitions while trying to work out the kinks between the actual episode and the many twists that I plan on putting on my own spin of how the first season of Digimon should have gone.**

**Secondly, thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapters! It's surprising for me to see that people actually like this story. And also, thanks to those who added AGWI-DA to their Favorites/Alerts list!**

**Thirdly, I'd like to give a fair warning about future updates. As it is now, University life is just right around the corner, and I'm going to have to struggle through the extreme change from being a High School senior to being a University freshman. I will try my best to update this story on a more timely schedule, but I will most likely have to go through a testing phase to see how to plan my time accordingly.**

**Anyway, without further ado, onto the story!**

**But before I forget...  
**

******DISCLAIMER: ****I do not own Digimon nor anything that has to do with the entire franchise. This work is purely fanfiction and shall not make any profit using the Digimon name nor its franchise.**

* * *

The entire group has been shaken up since that morning. The appearance of that black gear has frightened all the children and the digimon. Takeru remembers how the first meeting with the suspicious gear had gone.

Suspicion. Uneasiness. Foreboding.

Evil. Darkness.

Despair.

That is what they all had felt when they were staring at the strange object. Takeru winces, remembering what happened next.

Another pass at their heads is made by the gear. Sora screaming. Yamato's anguished cry as he falls on his injured arm yet again. Taichi barking orders. Jyou's frantic pleas for an adult. Koushiro trying to analyze the situation. Mimi crying.

Only he and Hikari were the more quiet ones, most likely due to the fact that they had heard that voice again. Strangely enough, the voice brought to them immense comfort, despite the fact that the feelings that were brought by the gear still lingers.

'_Don't go near it! Bearers of Light and Hope, be careful of the evil that is behind that atrocity!"_

And then, the gear was gone, flying away at top speeds in a random location.

Takeru wonders who or what that voice belongs to, and why they seem so adamant on helping them, guiding them, and warning them along their way. This has to be the third time, Takeru notes. The group of children and their digimon are now walking through a region similar to a savannah, the only difference being the sea of telephone poles protruding from the ground. He looks around, noting that his brother and Taichi have ditched their shirts due to the extreme heat. Takeru himself is now only wearing a tank top, his sweater and hat stuffed into his backpack.

"It's too hot!" Mimi's irritated voice rings through the air, causing everyone to sigh.

"We should probably turn back," Yamato suggests, looking around and seeing nothing worth travelling to. "We could probably try crossing at night instead," he adds. "That way, we can travel under cooler conditions."

"Piyomon!" Sora's voice of irritation surprises all of them, causing them to look at the girl with fiery orange hair. She sounds out of character, everyone thinks, and they want to see what had caused her to act out. "It's already hot, we've been walking for way too long, and your clinging is just making me more tired!"

Needless to say, everyone's eyes are all glued to the scene, jaws slightly hanging unhinged. Takeru tries to make peace with what just happened, coming up with excuse of the heat finally getting to her

"I'm sorry Sora," Piyomon's crestfallen voice makes everyone's heart clench, including Sora's. "I'll stop clinging onto you…" she trails, walking towards the back of the group.

Takeru can see the guilt on Sora's face now, and he hears her sigh. "Piyomon," she calls to her partner, earning the pink bird's attention. "I'm sorry," she apologizes and opens her arms. "C'mere, you can cling to me if you want." She finished with a smile, and the pink bird's face lights up in glee.

"Sora!" Piyomon jumps onto Sora's back. "I love you!"

For some reason, Takeru suddenly feels tired, and he reasons it's the heat. All of a sudden, his vision blurs until it's dark. All he feels now is the sensation of falling. He feels his body connecting with the floor and nothing else.

"Takeru!" Hikari's shout is all he hears, interrupting Piyomon's confessions of love. "Takeru! Are you okay?"

He feels a hand brush against his forehead, and he feels the same hand travel to his jugular.

"He most likely fainted due to exhaustion," he hears Jyou's voice, sounding more distant than before. "We have to get him water and shade. Fast!"

Everyone starts to panic, Yamato and Patamon being the louder ones of the bunch. Hikari's close to tears, not wanting to lose a dear friend of hers. Takeru is the only one she feels comfortable with, sans the two older brothers, and she concludes to herself that it is because they're the same age.

Takeru feels himself slipping in and out of consciousness, his breathing becoming shallower by the second. Faintly, he feels his body being lifted. Faintly, he hears his brother expressing gratitude. Faintly, the world slowly drifts away and everything goes still for a moment.

He swims in and out of consciousness. The only thing keeping him awake is the need to not worry them any further. He feels the time slip by, his sense of environment is twisted by his condition. The entire time, he feels the wind rush past his face, and he feels like he's flying. The feeling is abruptly put to a stop as he feels himself being lowered down, the feeling of grass beneath his bare arms tickle him.

"Stay with us!" He hears Yamato shouting, shaking him and patting his face every so often. He faintly hears Hikari shouting his name in the background, surprisingly becoming louder and louder by the minute. He assumes she's next to his ear by now.

He feels something wet pressed against his forehead, and everything starts to become clear again. Wincing, he starts opening his eyes and blinking to get the blurry vision to focus.

"Ow, Hikari," Takeru mutters, surprising them all. He sits up, using one arm as a support while the other rubs his eyes. "You're pretty loud."

A pair of arms flings forward, capturing him in an embrace while a single arm drags him into someone's chest. The young blond surmises that Hikari is the one hugging him Yamato is the one who pulled him into his chest. Turning his head, he finds out that his assumptions were on the spot.

"You scared us there little buddy," Yamato says, ruffling Takeru's hair. "Mind not giving me a heart attack any time soon? Or never again for that matter?" Takeru smiles at this, nodding in agreement.

Takeru looks down at the girl hugging him, unable to understand her through her sobs. All he can pick out is his name, the fact that she was terrified, and that she doesn't want to lose a precious friend. He notes that Taichi's sitting down near him, trying to pull Hikari into his arms to comfort her.

"You're going to need a few days rest," Jyou says, catching his attention. A thermos is shoved into his face. "Fresh water from the lake," he continues, pushing his glasses up. "I'll make sure to it that you get better," Jyou ends with a smile.

"Of course!" Mimi shouts with glee, ecstatic that he's going to be fine. "Anything for the two babies of the group!" She gets nods of agreement from both Sora and Koushiro, though Takeru can see conflict in Sora's eyes.

"We'll take turns taking care of you and looking for food," Koushiro tells him. "We're going to be camping here for the next few days until you feel better."

"I'm fine," Takeru says, shaking his head. "We can keep going."

"Takeru," Sora starts, looking at him warmly. "If you're tired, just say so. No one's going to get mad at you."

The younger blond stared at her with surprised blue eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion fall over him.

"Okay," he nods, yawning a little. "Maybe I am a little tired…"

And that's when everything goes weird. Takeru momentarily freezes up, his body emitting small lights. His eyes glaze over, and a splash of yellow gold covers his normally blue irises. Hikari looks at him in surprise, staring at the entire spectacle.

Takeru feels as if his body is being possessed by another being, and the only thing left to him is his ability to hear.

"Takeru?" She asks, stepping back. Yamato grabs his little brother's arm, worry blaring in his eyes.

"_I have come to offer a grand warning,"_ Takeru's mouth opens, and he hears a different voice that doesn't belong to him. Mentally, Takeru starts in surprise as the voice sounds familiar. Hikari starts, staring at the child with wide eyes._ "It is as you assume Bearer of Light,"_ the voice speaks again. _"I do not have much time. Be wary of the Black Gears. They are byproducts of the Great Evil that wishes to take over the Digital World, and they will corrupt anything they come in contact with—human and digimon alike._

"_I have placed a protective barrier upon you all,"_ Takeru feels his hand sweep in front of him, indicating the rest of the children and all of their digimon. _"The power of the Gears will not be able to corrupt you, but still be weary as the mastermind orchestrating all of this is more powerful than you are all presently."_

"Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?" Yamato screams, wanting answers.

"_I'm sorry,"_ the voice speaks once more to them, growing faint. _"I've run out of time. I wish you all the best of luck Chosen Children. May Hope and Light forever blaze within your hearts…"_ the voice fades out completely while the light around Takeru dims to nothing.

"What just happened?" Takeru asks, feeling strange still. He looks at everyone and notices that their faces are still morphed in slight fright.

"I don't know…" Koushiro trails, trying to find a good, logical explanation. "But I think we just need to rest for now…"

Everyone nods, setting out to what they originally planned to do before that freakish experience occurred.

* * *

It's been three days since Takeru's fainting spell, and the entire group is ready to set out once more. They all took advantage of the break period, getting to know of the world a bit more, what digimon are, and simply relaxing and having fun. The one thing that still goes unanswered is Tailmon's story, but she promised them that she would tell them everything one day.

"Are we ready to set out?" Taichi asks, looking around at everyone. Feeling much better, Takeru nods and gives him a smile. Everyone else nods along, seeing Takeru healthy and fine again. "Then let's go!" Taichi shouts, marching back into the savannah.

They continue their path from three days previous, trudging through the familiar sea of telephone poles. The group stops at a certain point along the road, remembering this is where Takeru fainted.

"Which way from here?" Yamato asks, looking in all directions. "I still can't see anything besides that large mountain over there."

"Hey, wait, what's that?" Takeru hears Taichi grumble loudly enough for everyone to notice. The goggle headed child pulls out his mini telescope, focusing on one particular point in the distance.

"What do you see?" Sora asks, confused.

"A village!" Taichi exclaims, causing everyone to jump. "I see a village!"

"Civilization!" Jyou shouts jovially, running in the direction Taichi is looking. "Let's go already!"

Everyone hustles, coming closer and closer to the village. Taichi and Sora, both being soccer players, manage to outrun Jyou and become the leaders of the pack. Yamato paces himself with his brother and Hikari, making sure that they'll be all right while they run. Jyou, Mimi, Koushiro, and all of their digimon partners bring up the rear, panting as they are not used to the sudden workout.

Takeru notices that Taichi and Sora have stopped running, standing stock still in front of the village. He wonders why they stopped, all things considered. It's then that he notices something strange. Takeru remembers seeing the village huts from far away and noted that they were tiny due to the whole vision and distance concept, but now that he's closer, the huts have yet to grow much in size.

The village is a tiny village, with tiny huts, and most likely, tiny people.

"Wh…at…?" Jyou pants, barely making out the question as he finally reaches them. The entire group is now staring at the tiny village, confused and slightly disappointed.

"Why is everything so tiny?" Mimi shrieks, slightly outraged.

Soon, the occupants of those tiny huts start to pour out. Familiar looking pink plant bulbs make their way out of each hut, staring at the group of children and their digimon.

"Pyocomon?" Sora questions, seeing familiar looking digimon. "Hey, Piyomon, is this a Pyocomon village?" Her partner nods in confirmation, and she gives Sora a wide smile.

"Guests?" One of the Pyocomon questions them, looking at them with wide eyes before locking eyes with Piyomon. "A Piyomon!"

The many Pyocomon start to cause a commotion, throwing questions left and right at Piyomon, and the pink bird happily answers to all of them. Takeru laughs, watching the entire spectacle. He quietly notes Sora's rather exasperated facial expression and the way she sighs every time her name is mentioned. This back and forth question and answer between Baby and Child digimon continue for quite awhile, that is, until stomachs begin to growl. The Pyocomon halt their questioning, promising them all fresh water and a feast.

The promise catches all of their attention, causing the children and their digimon partners to cheer loudly. The Pyocomon lead them to their source of water first, fresh from the direct source of the Miharashi Mountains. At Takeru's questioning of the mountain, the Pyocomon and Tentomon all point to a mountain in the far-off distance. Turning his head, he looks at the mountain, surprise in his eyes at how they missed seeing it earlier.

"Takeru!" Yamato screams for his brother, trying to catch his attention. Taichi, being the closer of the two, lunges forward to grab the younger blond's backpack and haul the child away from the fountain.

Takeru opens his mouth, a protest almost escaping his lips. He is effectively cut off, however, as a pillar of fire shoots from the fountain, shocking everyone. The young child stares fearfully at the fountain, barely registering that his brother is thanking Taichi.

"What in the world…?" Jyou mutters, confused and concerned. He looks around, noticing the Pyocomon have gathered in front of a well.

"Over here!" They all shout, catching their attention. Takeru is the first one over there, Yamato and the Yagami siblings in tow.

"Let's try it," Taichi says, grabbing a nearby bucket and throwing it down. Instead of hearing a splash, they hear the bucket hit solid ground. "What…?"

The earth starts to shake again, causing the four of them and the digimon around them to back away. Another fire pillar erupts from the well.

Takeru stares at the well in confusion. At first, the fountain erupts in flames, and now it's the well. He tries to find the connection, and his head subconsciously turns to the mountain in the distance. He notices an orange dot descending the mountain side.

"Ne, Taichi," Takeru looks to the older Yagami. "What's that?" He asks, pointing towards the moving dot. Taichi whips out his mini telescope, putting it to his eye to get a better look. A few seconds pass as the older Yagami scopes out the area, letting out a gasp of surprise. "What is it?" Takeru asks once more, insistent on getting an answer.

"A fire demon!" Taichi shouts in panic, alerting everyone.

"Fire demon?" One of the Pyocomon asks, confused. She looks at the direction in which Taichi is looking, noticing it to be the Miharashi Mountains. "Silly! That's Meramon! He's the guardian of the mountain!"

"Well, it doesn't look like he's come to give us a warm reception!" Taichi shouts, turning to look at them, slightly frightened. Yamato takes the mini telescope from the Yagami child, putting it to his eye to see what he meant.

"He looks mad!" Yamato adds, turning to them all. "Hurry! We need to evacuate!"

The following panic and hysteria that comes with the evacuation continues for a long while. Taichi, Yamato and Jyou are in the front, scoping for a place to hide. Takeru and Hikari stay towards the middle, herding the many Pyocomon into an ordered line of evacuation, making sure none stray. Sora, Mimi, and Koushiro bring up the rear, making sure that any stray Pyocomon gets back in line. Tentomon and Piyomon take to the skies, acting as scouts for both a hiding place and Meramon's location.

"He's gaining on us!" Tentomon's worried voice kicks everyone into high gear, the adrenaline rush kicking in.

"There!" Piyomon shouts, looking straight ahead. "I see a crater with a ship! We can hide there!"

Shouts of agreement ring amongst the fleeing group, running much faster with a destination set. Tentomon continues on giving timely updates of Meramon's status behind them. Jyou begins to lag behind the other two boys, falling to the rear with Sora and the others. Taichi and Yamato are the first to reach the ship, the blond teen taking the lead and marching the Pyocomon inside. Taichi stays at the entrance, making sure that the Baby digimon enter as well as the rest of their group. The rest of the digimon stay with their partners, or around the vicinity of their partners, helping in any other way.

"Ah!" Hikari yelps, tripping on her own foot. She lands on her hands and knees, scraping them up slightly. "Ow…" she mumbles, wincing at the pain. As she tries to stand back up, her body starts to convulse as she begins one of her many coughing fits, causing her to fall back down.

"Hikari!" Takeru shouts, running over to the fallen Yagami. He begins to panic, not knowing what to do and noting vaguely that Tailmon started barking out orders to remain calm. The young Takaishi's eyes dart left and right, looking for what can help. His eyes continue their search when he faintly hears Patamon reminding him of the canteen that Jyou had given him earlier that day. He tries to remember if there was still water inside as he digs through his backpack, hoping that there really is water. Finding it, Takeru shakes it lightly and beams, hearing the sloshing of water. "Here!" He practically shouts, helping Hikari into a sitting position and putting the canteen to her lips. She takes a few sips before pushing the canteen away. This process continues for quite a while.

"Hikari!" Jyou's voice causes the young blond to look up, seeing the older child panic. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Takeru answers, his voice tinged with worry. "We were just walking and she tripped. Then she started to cough a lot," he adds hastily, looking at the girl in worry.

"Help me help her up," Jyou commands sternly, crouching down. "I'll give her a ride on my back until we reach Taichi."

Nodding, Takeru helps with the task, diligently guiding the exhausted Hikari onto Jyou's back. Once that task is finished, Jyou and Takeru, along with the sick Hikari, make haste towards the ship to meet with the older siblings.

"Taichi!" Takeru shouts once he knows they are close enough for him to hear them. "Taichi!"

"Wha… Hikari?" Taichi notices the state of his little sister. "What happened?" He shouts in frantic worry, his overprotective nature becoming apparent as he gives an accusing glance at both Jyou and Takeru.

"According to Takeru, she just collapsed," Jyou informs him, placating the older Yagami. Carefully, he hands Hikari off to her older brother. "It must have been a relapse," he concludes, taking in Hikari's state. "Just be glad Takeru reacted quickly, otherwise she wouldn't have survived."

Taichi sends Takeru a thankful glance as well as an apologetic smile. The younger child looks on in confusion, unable to comprehend what had just happened. He's currently too worried for Hikari to notice. Tailmon and Patamon stifle a small laugh at Taichi's expense, the two digimon still worried for the younger Yagami.

"Take her inside," Jyou orders Taichi. "Go with them Takeru."

"But what about the other Pyocomon?" Takeru asks, looking back.

"Don't worry about it," Jyou answers him, giving him a reassuring smile. "I'll make sure they all get in. Plus," he adds, pushing his glasses up, "the others are already close."

Nodding, Takeru and Taichi bring Hikari into the ship, navigating through the many creaky floors and rotting support beams, eventually finding Yamato. With haste, Taichi and Yamato help set a makeshift bed using materials found laying around, using Takeru's backpack as a pillow.

"Don't worry," Yamato tells the two, using his only able hand to give them comforting squeezes on their shoulder. "She'll be alright. Hikari's a strong girl."

"Thanks Yamato," Taichi nods in agreement, casting a glance at Takeru. "Hey, Takeru," he starts, gaining the attention of the smaller blond. "Promise me that you'll take care of her," Taichi continues, his eyes not leaving Takeru's. "We need to make sure everyone is going to be safe here," Takeru can hear the hesitance and reluctance in his voice, "and I'm going to be needed on the front lines when Meramon catches up to us." Takeru notices that there was no use of 'if' but 'when'.

"I will," Takeru nods, eyes full of conviction. "She helped take care of me when I was sick, and now it's my turn to return the favor." Both Patamon and Tailmon nod in agreement, voicing their assurance that they, too, will help.

"That's my little brother," Yamato asserts, ruffling Takeru's hair. "And don't worry, he won't be alone," the older blond continues, looking at Taichi. "With my arm this way, I don't think I can be on the frontlines until it gets healed," the remorse in his voice is evident. "I'll be with Takeru and help with Hikari," Yamato smiles sadly. "Beat him up good for all three of us."

Taichi nods, leaving the three behind and passing by Jyou and Mimi on his way out. Jyou and Mimi look at him in confusion, watching as the goggle headed child leaves upon their entrance. Takeru can see Agumon following behind his partner, a determined look on his face.

Gabumon, Palmon, and Gomamon continue their jobs, herding the Pyocomon to ensure that everyone can manage to fit inside the ship's empty cargo areas. Mimi begins to fuss over the strangest things, probably a coping mechanism Takeru notes. Jyou busies himself with changing Yamato's bandages and checking Hikari's health. Takeru hears a soft gasp coming from the older teen, so he turns to look at what had caused such a reaction. His eyes widen in surprise, a soft gasp escaping him as well.

Yamato's arm shows no sign of damage. No swelling due to the dislocated shoulder, and there is no more bleeding much less a gashing wound. There is no scar at all either, leaving no physical evidence of the wound itself.

"I don't…" Jyou trails off, obviously confused and rather relieved. "How…?"

"We shouldn't worry about that right now," Yamato tells him, shooting a glance at Hikari. "There are more important things to worry about."

"Right," Jyou nods, moving away from Yamato to check on Hikari. He checks her temperature first, noting that her temperature is becoming more stabilized than when he first checked it when he stumbled onto Takeru and Hikari earlier. "She's doing better," he comments, nodding his head once more.

Takeru and Yamato both release a sigh of relief, worry washing off their faces. The younger blond smiles, knowing that everything will be all right, taking a seat near Hikari. Patamon and Tailmon join him while Yamato tests out his newly healed arm.

"It's still so weird knowing that I can use my arm again, especially since it's only been four days," Yamato comments distractedly, rotating his shoulders and moving his arm about. "How long did Koushiro say I'd have to wait again?"

"Three to twelve weeks," Mimi pipes up from her corner, apparently done with fussing about the surroundings and their hiding place. "He said you'd have to avoid use your arm in any strenuous activities for three to twelve weeks."

"I would have suspected three," Yamato replies cheekily, "but then there was that incident with Seadramon. That little adventure might have made it closer to six, maybe even eight weeks max."

Jyou opens his mouth to give his own opinion and input, but he is interrupted by a rather loud explosion and shouts coming from the outside. Startled, Jyou, Yamato, and even Mimi make their way to the upper deck. Before making his exit, Yamato turns to Takeru, giving him a silent nod that conveys Despite wanting to see what was happening, Takeru stays by Hikari's side, keeping his promise to Taichi.

"Are you sure you don't want to see what's happening?" Tailmon asks with a flick of her tail, the golden ring flickering as a few strays of light hit it. "I can watch over her for you," she adds, only to receive a shake of the head from Takeru. "Are you sure?" She asks, earning a nod in response.

"I promised Taichi and Bro," Takeru reasons, though he looks longingly towards the outside. "I don't want to break that promise."

Tailmon nods in approval, going to Hikari's side. She curls next to her partner, wanting to be near her while keeping an alert ear and eye. Patamon flies over to Takeru's side, landing on his lap.

"What are you going to do then?" Patamon asks, casting a curious gaze at his partner.

"I'll do what a kid does best," Takeru says, smiling. "I'll imagine what's going on."

"Based on what?" Patamon inquires, confused.

"The sounds and everyone's shouting," Takeru replies, closing his eyes shut. Slowly, he picks up the noises from the outside, pictures floating to the forefront of his mind.

* * *

Takeru hears the raging battle outside, and his little mind conjures a large scale imagination. The first thing he hears is Sora's screaming. In his mind, he sees her running, her voice sounding panicky and breathless. Piyomon must be in trouble, he surmises, and he can imagine the look of worry on her face. Meramon must have finally caught up to them, he thinks, and Takeru realizes that the explosion might have been caused by Meramon and one of his attacks. He quietly asks Patamon what the attack could have been, and his partner replies with the answer of Burning Fist.

Agumon's shouts catch the young blond's attention, and he can see the panic flash across Taichi's face. Shouts of being unable to evolve cause Takeru's worries to shoot up, his imagination flaring up wildly. He imagines all of the older kids' digimon partners, save Palmon and Gomamon who he knew were near him at the time, struggling to fight an Adult in their Child forms. Takeru hears their attacks being called out one by one, only to be followed by aggravated shouts of being ineffective.

The Takaishi child hears Tentomon's frustration, shouting that their attacks are merely a tickle, and that Meramon seems to be absorbing the attacks and growing larger. Takeru's imagination flares to life, the image of Meramon growing ten times larger than normal. Even if it was an imagination, Takeru scares even himself.

Taichi shouts loudly, and Takeru immediately pictures him worrying. At first, the shouting is incomprehensible, but the more he focuses, Takeru is able to understand just what the goggle wearing child is shouting about.

Sora is in trouble.

Takeru's imagination flares again, this time, with Sora running into the heat of battle, protecting Piyomon with her own body. He hears everyone shouting this time, yelling at her to run away, to pick up Piyomon and run, to get to some place safe. Takeru knows that all their shouts and pleas fall onto deaf ears as Sora stays there to protect her digimon partner, the only reasoning is that everyone's voice brings about an urgent tone. He imagines all of their faces full of dread and worry, and Mimi's screams only cements this image in his head. He hears Meramon using his Bruning Fist attack, the blazing fire tearing through the air currents.

Sora screams in fear, calling out Piyomon's name loudly.

Piyomon screams out Sora's name, her voice becoming louder and clearer as Takeru pictures the pink bird coming out of Sora's protective dome. The young blond child imagines the scene, Piyomon flying into the attack, shielding Sora from the impending danger.

And that is where his imagination is cut off rapidly, a bright light blinding him despite his eyes being shut. And his imagination restarts from where it was cut off as soon as the light dims.

Takeru hears a loud squawk and the air rustling once again. This time, loud gasps and exclamations accompany the rippling air currents, the surprised faces of all the older children push their way into the forefront of Takeru's imagination. With his eyes still closed, Takeru asks Patamon to take a quick look outside, wanting his digimon partner to help describe what was happening outside.

Patamon agrees, making his trip quick. Upon his return, the bat-pig tells him of Piyomon's evolution to Birdramon, a large orange firebird, much bigger than the ship itself. The image of Birdramon floats into his mind, and he does his best to keep it as realistically similar to Patamon's description.

The sounds of battle create the scene in his mind once again, this time, the children being able to fight back. Birdramon continually slaps Meramon with her wings as the others use their attacks in succession, damaging the digimon instead of giving him more energy. The sound of large flapping wings brings the image of Birdramon picking him their enemy, dropping him from a high distance. A shout of Meteor Wing, a following explosion, and a shout of agony signal the end of the battle.

In his mind, Birdramon wins the battle.

* * *

"Takeru," Yamato's voice breaks Takeru out of his state of mind, the younger blond opening his eyes at the sound of his brother's voice. "We did it," he smiles, and Takeru grins back in return.

"What happened?" Takeru asks meekly, wanting to see if his imagination was as accurate as possible.

To his amazement, it was. Yamato tells him the events that had transpired outside, and Takeru tries to suppress an amazed look as he finds that his imagination isn't that far off from what really had happened. The only difference is the exact size of the enlarged Meramon. Instead of being ten times larger, he was only seven times larger.

Taichi enters the ship, walking over straight to Hikari, Jyou right behind him.

"How is she?" The older Yagami asks, and Takeru replies that she's been resting the entire time.

Jyou makes one last check up, telling everyone in the vicinity that she's all right now. Happy, the Ishida-Takaishi siblings and Taichi give a shout.

"We should probably head back to the village now that we're safe," Taichi comments, crouching down next to his sister. "Can you help me?" He asks Jyou to help put Hikari onto his back, the oldest child complying.

The return to Pyocomon village is filled with excitement and questions. Throughout their journey back, Meramon accompanies them, his head aching with confusion. Koushiro fires off question after question, earning simple answers in return.

What scares Takeru the most is that Meramon remembers everything that has happened, but the fire digimon never was able to control his body during the entire ordeal.

As they near the village, Koushiro asks the one question that is on all the other children's mind.

"What made you go berserk like that?" The Izumi child asks, a curious gaze casted upon Meramon.

Meramon shakes his head, signaling that he can't remember. Instead, he promises to tell them as soon as he does remember. Accepting that deal, Taichi gives him a smile and a thumbs up, turning to the Pyocomon.

"So, about that promise?" The goggle wearing child gives the suggestion, trying to remind the Pyocomon of the promised water and feast.

"Right!" All the Pyocomon shout, hustling and bustling as they prepare to fulfill their promise.

Within moments, a feast is laid out in front of them all, Meramon included. Takeru picks up the bowl placed in front of him, carefully stirring the mixture inside around. He distantly hears Mimi complaining about the quality of the feast. His rumbling stomach has him think otherwise.

"It's good!" Takeru exclaims, inhaling the entire bowl. He isn't sure if it really was good or it was just the hunger speaking, but either way, he ends with a satisfied burp.

Taking his lead, everyone, including the now conscious Hikari, and their digimon partners eat their prepared bowl, drinking along the fresh waters that come from the Miharashi Mountain Spring.

Meramon suddenly stops, catching everyone's attention.

"I remember now," he says gravely, setting down his bowl as his voice drops.

"Remember what?" Hikari asks, slightly confused. Taichi decides that now is the best time to catch his sister up to speed with the situation, and she releases a small gasp at the turn of events.

"How today began, how everything went dark for a split second," Meramon lists somberly, blankly staring into space. "I remember why I went berserk."

"Why?" Takeru asks, wanting to know how such a nice digimon that the Pyocomon trusts would want to hurt them.

At first, Meramon is silent, trying to find the best way to put it. Everyone is sitting on the edge of their seats, wanting to know the answer as well. Sighing, Meramon reveals to them what caused the extreme change, causing them all to gasp in shock.

"Everything changed when I was hit by what looked like a Black Gear."

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it! The end of the fourth chapter/episode. I had a hard time with the whole battle scene and making both of the younger children sick all in one chapter. In the end, I just decided to have Takeru imagine what the battle scene would be like, only to match it up to the fight scene in the actual episode as convincingly as possible. I hope it worked out that way!**

**Few key elements to note in this chapter:  
1. That being of light speaks!  
2. Piyomon has gone and joined the ranks of being able to become an Adult.  
3. I just made Takeru and Hikari sick in one chapter.  
4. Yamato is healed! (Now I don't have to feel as guilty anymore...)  
5. Be weary of the Black Gear!**

**Some rather important translations to note:**

**Attacks  
_Japanese -_****_ English  
_**Burning Fist - Fireball

**Thanks again for reading! **

**This is Van, until next time!**


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